Basics and Discovery of Atmospheric Chemicals - Air Pollution and Global Warming: History, Science, and Solutions - page 6

Table 1.3 ( continued )

Former name,
alternate name,
or meaning

Chemical
formula

Year
discovered Molecule Mineral name Discoverer

Magnesium
carbonate

MgCO 3 (s) Magnesite Magnesia alba c. 1695 Grew (UK)

<

Nitrogen dioxide NO 2 (g) Nitrous gas, red

nitrous vapor

1714, 1774 Ramazzini (Italy),

Priestley (England)

Molecular
nitrogen

N 2 (g) Mephitic air 1772 Rutherford (England)

Nitric oxide NO(g) Nitrous air 1772 Priestley (England)

Nitrous oxide N 2 O(g) Diminished

nitrous air,
laughing gas

1772 Priestley (England)

Hydrochloric acid HCl(g) Marine acid air,

Muriatic gas

1772 Priestley (England)

Hydrofluoric acid HF(g) Fluor acid 1773 Scheele (Sweden)

Molecular oxygen O 2 (g) Dephlogisticated

air

1774,
1772-1775

Priestley (England),
Scheele (Sweden)

Chlorine gas Cl 2 (g) Dephlogisticated

marine (muriatic)
acid gas, “green
gas”

1774 Scheele (Sweden)

Acetaldehyde CH 3 CHO(g) 1774 Scheele (Sweden)

Carbon monoxide CO(g) 1772-1779 Priestley (England)

Sulfur dioxide SO 2 (g) Vitriolic acid air 1774-1779 Priestley (England)

Nitric acid HNO 3 (g) 1784 Priestley (England),

Cavendish (England)

Hypochlorous acid HOCl(g) 1830 Balard (France)

Ozone O 3 (g) Ozein, “to smell” 1840 Schonbein (Germany)

kidney damage (saturnine gout), sterility, infertility,
stillbirths, and mental disorders among aristocrats in
particular (Lewis, 1985).
During the Renaissance, lead was used in pistols,
rifles, cannons, and ammunition. It was mined and
forged in Virginia beginning in 1621. In the 1920s, lead
wasfirst added to gasoline as an antiknock, octane-
boosting agent, resulting in it being emitted to the air
from vehicle exhaust as an aerosol particle. By the
1980s, the U.S. production of lead was equivalent to
5.2 kilograms per person per year. Due to its serious
health effects and the fact that lead deactivates the
catalyst in an automobile catalytic converter, most
countries have since banned leaded gasoline. However,
lead particulate matter is still emitted worldwide during

lead acid battery manufacturing and lead ore crushing
and smelting. Smelting is a method of extracting a metal
from its ore.

1.2.1.2. Mercury
Mercury is a heavy silvery-white metal that is liq-
uid at room temperature, often aggregating into beads
(Figure 1.3). Its elemental symbol (Hg) derives from
the Latinized Greek word, hydrargyrum ,which means
watery or runny ( hydr )silver ( argyros ). Mercury was
originally discovered upon the heating of the ore
cinnabar, made of mercury (II) sulfide. Cinnabar is
bright scarlet to brick red in color and is often located
near recent volcanic activity and alkaline hot springs.
Acinnabar mine at least 2,500 years old can be found