Perfluorotributilamina: the greenhouse gas that is 7,100 times worse than CO2
Every year the levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere are increasing, as well as the list of greenhouse gases. The latest addition to this list is the Perfluorotributilamina (PFTBA), a chemical used in the industry that has the potential for global warming 7,100 times greater than CO2, the main gas responsible for climate change. The conclusion was published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.Although only a small amount of PFTBA being present in the Earth's atmosphere, the lifespan of this substance is hundreds of years old, which means it is also present in the atmosphere during these hundreds of years. This chemical, odorless and colorless, is widely available in online sale sites and their sale is not regulated. "There are no policies to control their production, use or issue," said Angela Hong, one of the researchers at the University of Toronto who participated in the study, cites the Quartz.The industrial conglomerate 3 m, which sold for more than 40 years several PFTBA related chemical, called fluorinertos, says in his online portal that these chemicals "have high global warming potentials and atmospheric life for long periods. As such, they must be carefully managed to minimize the emissions ".The chemical properties of PFTBA â€" and other perfluorocarbons (PFCs) â€" makes it perfect for cooling lasers and electrical circuits. Google, for example, has registered several patents with PFTBA to use the chemical cooling systems of their servers. The PFC can still be used, in theory, by astronauts and by divers, as a replacement for liquid oxygen.The PFC can still be used as artificial blood (even if its implementation is still being studied). The molecular structure and the nature of the intramolecular chemical bonds of these substances allow the existence of empty spaces in the structure of the liquid, which causes the PFC dissolve oxygen and CO2 like no other substance. The PFTBA can also be used for frying potatoes.Laboratory tests have been done with mice, and found that the animals managed to survive several weeks after breathing perfluorocarbons, albeit with some lung damage.Researchers from the University of Toronto just discovered 0.18 PFTBA parts per billion in the atmosphere, compared with the 400 parts per million of CO2. However, the researchers argue that the use of this substance should be carefully monitored, as well as other potential greenhouse gases which have not yet been studied.
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