Residual emissions of CFC-11 and CFC-12 in the São Paulo metropolitan area

A study of atmospheric chlorofluorocarbons CCl3F (CFC-11) and CCl2F2 (CFC-12) was performed in the Metropolitan Region of São Paulo - MRSP (23.5ºS; 46.6ºW) during 2002. For the quantitative determination of the CFC concentration, a gas chromatograph with electron capture detector (ECD) was optimized with relative precision of 1.0%. In the MRSP, the observations of CFC-12 showed that there are large spatial and temporal variations in their concentrations (540.1 to 1395.8 pptv), while the CFC-11 concentrations did not show any statistically significant variation. Daily samplings were performed in June, July, August, September, November and December and showed that the emissions of CFC-12 were concentrated on weekdays (Monday to Friday), relating the emissions of this gas with its use in air conditioning and refrigeration systems of commercial and industrial buildings. The spatial variation observed in monthly campaigns in MRSP (April, May, June, July, August and September) and their matching with the predominant local wind direction evidencing the existence of a source region of CFC-12, located in the central area of the city. These results are indicative that emissions of CFC-12 are still significant. The monitoring of the mixing ratios of these gases in large cities like São Paulo can add to evaluate how the countries are following the Montreal Protocol, which restricts the production and trading of CFCs in developing countries, and schedule their banishment to 2010.