Articles | Volume 21, issue 17
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-13011-2021
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-13011-2021
Opinion
 | Highlight paper
 | 
02 Sep 2021
Opinion | Highlight paper |  | 02 Sep 2021

Opinion: The germicidal effect of ambient air (open-air factor) revisited

R. Anthony Cox, Markus Ammann, John N. Crowley, Paul T. Griffiths, Hartmut Herrmann, Erik H. Hoffmann, Michael E. Jenkin, V. Faye McNeill, Abdelwahid Mellouki, Christopher J. Penkett, Andreas Tilgner, and Timothy J. Wallington

Related authors

Evaluated kinetic and photochemical data for atmospheric chemistry: volume VIII – gas-phase reactions of organic species with four, or more, carbon atoms ( ≥  C4)
Abdelwahid Mellouki, Markus Ammann, R. Anthony Cox, John N. Crowley, Hartmut Herrmann, Michael E. Jenkin, V. Faye McNeill, Jürgen Troe, and Timothy J. Wallington
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 4797–4808, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-4797-2021,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-4797-2021, 2021
Short summary
Evaluated kinetic and photochemical data for atmospheric chemistry: Volume VII – Criegee intermediates
R. Anthony Cox, Markus Ammann, John N. Crowley, Hartmut Herrmann, Michael E. Jenkin, V. Faye McNeill, Abdelwahid Mellouki, Jürgen Troe, and Timothy J. Wallington
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 13497–13519, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-13497-2020,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-13497-2020, 2020
Short summary
Heterogeneous reaction of ClONO2 with TiO2 and SiO2 aerosol particles: implications for stratospheric particle injection for climate engineering
Mingjin Tang, James Keeble, Paul J. Telford, Francis D. Pope, Peter Braesicke, Paul T. Griffiths, N. Luke Abraham, James McGregor, I. Matt Watson, R. Anthony Cox, John A. Pyle, and Markus Kalberer
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 15397–15412, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-15397-2016,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-15397-2016, 2016
Short summary
Compilation and evaluation of gas phase diffusion coefficients of reactive trace gases in the atmosphere: Volume 2. Diffusivities of organic compounds, pressure-normalised mean free paths, and average Knudsen numbers for gas uptake calculations
M. J. Tang, M. Shiraiwa, U. Pöschl, R. A. Cox, and M. Kalberer
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 5585–5598, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-5585-2015,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-5585-2015, 2015
Compilation and evaluation of gas phase diffusion coefficients of reactive trace gases in the atmosphere: volume 1. Inorganic compounds
M. J. Tang, R. A. Cox, and M. Kalberer
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 9233–9247, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-9233-2014,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-9233-2014, 2014

Related subject area

Subject: Gases | Research Activity: Atmospheric Modelling and Data Analysis | Altitude Range: Troposphere | Science Focus: Chemistry (chemical composition and reactions)
Process analysis of elevated concentrations of organic acids at Whiteface Mountain, New York
Christopher Lawrence, Mary Barth, John Orlando, Paul Casson, Richard Brandt, Daniel Kelting, Elizabeth Yerger, and Sara Lance
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 13693–13713, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13693-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13693-2024, 2024
Short summary
Ozone source attribution in polluted European areas during summer 2017 as simulated with MECO(n)
Markus Kilian, Volker Grewe, Patrick Jöckel, Astrid Kerkweg, Mariano Mertens, Andreas Zahn, and Helmut Ziereis
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 13503–13523, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13503-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13503-2024, 2024
Short summary
Opinion: Challenges and needs of tropospheric chemical mechanism development
Barbara Ervens, Andrew Rickard, Bernard Aumont, William P. L. Carter, Max McGillen, Abdelwahid Mellouki, John Orlando, Bénédicte Picquet-Varrault, Paul Seakins, William R. Stockwell, Luc Vereecken, and Timothy J. Wallington
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 13317–13339, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13317-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13317-2024, 2024
Short summary
The atmospheric oxidizing capacity in China – Part 2: Sensitivity to emissions of primary pollutants
Jianing Dai, Guy P. Brasseur, Mihalis Vrekoussis, Maria Kanakidou, Kun Qu, Yijuan Zhang, Hongliang Zhang, and Tao Wang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 12943–12962, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-12943-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-12943-2024, 2024
Short summary
Role of chemical production and depositional losses on formaldehyde in the Community Regional Atmospheric Chemistry Multiphase Mechanism (CRACMM)
T. Nash Skipper, Emma L. D'Ambro, Forwood C. Wiser, V. Faye McNeill, Rebecca H. Schwantes, Barron H. Henderson, Ivan R. Piletic, Colleen B. Baublitz, Jesse O. Bash, Andrew R. Whitehill, Lukas C. Valin, Asher P. Mouat, Jennifer Kaiser, Glenn M. Wolfe, Jason M. St. Clair, Thomas F. Hanisco, Alan Fried, Bryan K. Place, and Havala O.T. Pye
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 12903–12924, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-12903-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-12903-2024, 2024
Short summary

Cited articles

Arnold, W. N.: The longevity of the phytotoxicant produced from gaseous ozone-olefin reactions, Int. J. Air Poll., 2, 167–174, 1959. 
Artz, C. P., Reiss, E., Davis, J. H. J., and Amspacher, W. H.: The exposure treatment of burns, Ann. Surg., 137, 456–464, 1953. 
Bailey, P. S.: The reactions of ozone with organic compounds, Chem. Rev., 58, 925–1010, 1958. 
Bailey, R., Fielding, L., Young, A., and Griffith, C.: Effect of Ozone and Open Air Factor against Aerosolized Micrococcus luteus, J. Food Protect., 70, 2769–2773, https://doi.org/10.4315/0362-028X-70.12.2769, 2007. 
Becker, B., Brill, F. H. H., Todt, D., Steinmann, E., Lenz, J., Paulmann, D., Bischoff, B., and Steinmann, J.: Virucidal efficacy of peracetic acid for instrument disinfection, Antimicrob. Resist. In., 6, 114, https://doi.org/10.1186/s13756-017-0271-3, 2017. 
Download
Short summary
The term open-air factor was coined in the 1960s, establishing that rural air had powerful germicidal properties possibly resulting from immediate products of the reaction of ozone with alkenes, unsaturated compounds ubiquitously present in natural and polluted environments. We have re-evaluated those early experiments, applying the recently substantially improved knowledge, and put them into the context of the lifetime of aerosol-borne pathogens that are so important in the Covid-19 pandemic.
Altmetrics
Final-revised paper
Preprint