Environmental Science snow paper hits the headlines

A recent research paper in our Environmental Science: Processes and Impacts journal has hit global headlines this week. The paper reported findings that suggested snow in urban areas can absorb the same toxic and carcinogenic pollutants that come from car exhausts.

Researchers at McGill University demonstrated the impact of snow on these airborne pollutants using an artificial snow chamber. Air pollution is recognised as a leading environmental driver of cancer deaths, which makes the fate of these toxic and carcinogenic aerosols from car exhausts important for informing changes in emissions and air quality regulations, and technologies, in countries with cold winters.

Chemistry World broke the story interviewing Thorsten Bartels-Rausch, a surface chemist at the Paul Scherrer Institute in Switzerland. He told them: “This research shows what should be done to a broader audience than just the cryosphere community. Long term projects would show how exhaust gases and aerosols are taken up, to see how this changes with temperature or with the age and type of snow.”

The research featured in a breadth of publications including The Huffington Post, The Daily Mail, The Sun and IFLS among others.