Collaborative Research: US emissions of sulfuryl fluoride: a pesticide and potent greenhouse gas

合作研究：美国硫酰氟的排放：一种农药和强效温室气体

• 批准号: 2121739
• 负责人: Jens Muhle
• 金额: $ 7.99万
• 依托单位: University of California-San Diego Scripps Inst of Oceanography
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2021-11-01 至 2024-10-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2121739&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; US; emissions; sulfuryl

Sulfuryl fluoride is a pesticide used to exterminate termites and other pests from homes and buildings, agriculture, and international shipping. Globally, atmospheric concentrations of sulfuryl fluoride have been increasing exponentially as it replaces the toxic pesticide methyl bromide. Methyl bromide is being phased out as it depletes the stratospheric ozone layer, which shields life on Earth from harsh ultraviolet light. Although sulfuryl fluoride does not deplete the ozone layer, it is a potent greenhouse gas and can cause negative health impacts at high exposure. There are numerous knowledge gaps regarding the use of sulfuryl fluoride that prevent a full assessment of its environmental impact. The goal of this project is to address these knowledge gaps by modeling emissions, fate, and transport of sulfuryl fluoride. This will be achieved through specific research to measure sulfuryl fluoride concentrations in ambient air, evaluate how use and emissions are changing over time, and estimate the fraction of emissions that are absorbed during fumigation. Successful completion of this research will provide key information for assessing the environmental impact of sulfuryl fluoride to better inform federal and state regulatory agencies. These findings will also facilitate greenhouse gas emissions accounting for sulfuryl fluoride, which currently do not include this compound in official estimates. Additional benefits to society will result from mentoring high school research interns each summer from Baltimore Public Schools, increasing scientific literacy and enhancing the Nation’s STEM workforce.Sulfuryl fluoride is a toxic pesticide and potent greenhouse gas; it is a common fumigant used to exterminate termites and pests that infest residential structures and agricultural products. In spite of the exponential increase in usage as a replacement for methyl bromide, there are major gaps in understanding the environmental fate of sulfuryl fluoride. The goal of this research project is to address these gaps by evaluating US emissions of sulfuryl fluoride and place these emissions in a global context. This goal will be achieved through two primary research objectives to: i) estimate the magnitude and distribution of sulfuryl fluoride emissions across the United States using atmospheric observations of the gas coupled with inverse modeling, and ii) evaluate recent trends in US emissions in the context of global emissions increases. This research is designed to test three hypotheses that H1) California accounts for a larger share of US sulfuryl fluoride emissions than any other region of the country, H2) increasing US emissions account for the majority of global emissions increases, and H3) at least some of the sulfuryl fluoride used for fumigation is absorbed into structures or agricultural products. Successful completion of this project will provide critical information necessary to characterize the human and ecological health impacts of sulfuryl fluoride use by scientists, regulators, public health professionals, and other stakeholders. Preliminary analysis by the research team indicates that increased sulfuryl fluoride use in the state of California may completely negate recent progress toward meeting emission reduction goals in the state.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

硫酰氟是一种用于消灭家庭和建筑物、农业和国际航运中的白蚁和其他害虫的农药，随着它取代有毒农药甲基溴，硫酰氟的浓度呈指数级增长。它会消耗平流层臭氧层，而臭氧层可以保护地球上的生命免受强烈的紫外线照射，但硫酰氟不会消耗臭氧层。它是一种强效温室气体，在高暴露量下会对健康造成负面影响。关于硫酰氟的使用存在许多知识空白，导致无法对其环境影响进行全面评估。该项目的目标是解决这些知识问题。通过对硫酰氟的排放、归宿和运输进行建模来弥补差距 这将通过具体研究来实现，以测量环境空气中的硫酰氟浓度，评估使用和排放随时间的变化，并估计在排放过程中吸收的排放比例。这项研究的成功完成将为评估硫酰氟的环境影响提供关键信息，以便更好地为联邦和州监管机构提供信息。这些发现也将有助于硫酰氟的温室气体排放核算，目前官方并未将这种化合物纳入其中。每年夏天指导巴尔的摩公立学校的高中研究实习生、提高科学素养和增强国家的 STEM 劳动力，将为社会带来额外的好处。硫酰氟是一种有毒农药和强效温室气体气体；它是一种常见的熏蒸剂，用于消灭侵扰住宅建筑和农产品的白蚁和害虫，尽管其作为甲基溴替代品的使用量呈指数增长，但人们对硫酰氟的环境影响仍存在很大的了解。该研究项目的目标是通过评估美国硫酰氟的排放量并将这些排放量置于全球范围内来解决这些差距，这一目标将通过两个主要研究目标来实现：i) 估计排放量和分布。通过对气体的大气观测和逆向建模，评估美国各地的硫酰氟排放量，以及 ii) 在全球排放量增加的背景下评估美国排放量的最新趋势。本研究旨在检验 H1) 加利福尼亚州所解释的三个假设。美国硫酰氟排放量所占的比例比该国任何其他地区都大，H2) 美国排放量的增加占全球排放量增加的大部分，并且 H3) 至少有一些硫酰氟用于该项目的成功完成将为科学家、监管人员、公共卫生专业人员和其他利益相关者进行初步分析提供必要的关键信息，以描述硫酰氟的使用对人类和生态健康的影响。表明加利福尼亚州硫酰氟使用量的增加可能会完全抵消该州最近在实现减排目标方面取得的进展。该奖项是 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准。