Researchers met at UH in July to discuss preliminary findings of the study, which also detected high levels of mercury in Houston’s air coming mostly from the Ship Channel.

Formaldehyde, which serves as a catalyst in the production of ozone – a harmful pollutant when present in ground-level air – previously was believed to come from cars and from photochemical reactions in the atmosphere. However, data collected from an air quality study funded by the Houston Advanced Research Center, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration suggests a significant amount of formaldehyde emanates from the portion of east Houston where refineries and petrochemical plants are clustered.

The study also provided some of the first reliable mercury measurements in Houston. While mercury was thought to come primarily from coal-burning power plants, the study suggested the mercury was emanating from the industrial area along the Ship Channel. However, researchers are still trying to determine what specific industrial processes might be producing the mercury, said Barry Lefer, an assistant professor of atmosphere science at UH.

These and other findings from the study were presented during a three-day workshop at UH. Some 100 scientists from UH and research institutions throughout the country pored over the air quality data collected in Houston over a forty-five day period lasat year, Lefer said.

Bernhard Rappenglueck, associate professor of atmosphere science at UH, studied the data tracing the formaldehyde to the industrial sites and said researchers are still studying how the formaldehyde impacts ozone formation downwind of the Ship Channel.  

Much of the information was collected at the comprehensive chemical and meteorological measurement site atop Moody Tower, an eighteen-story dormitory on the UH campus. The measurement instruments there operate twenty-four hours a day. Coupled with data collected from an aircraft and from a boat sampling in the Ship Channel, scientists hope to develop a more accurate profile of the region’s atmosphere.

Gauges on the roof of Moody Tower and the weather balloons launched by researchers to monitor air quality measured fluctuating levels of more than eighty compounds that contribute to air pollution, Lefer said.

The research is part of the Texas Air Quality Study-II, an effort to analyze and provide solutions for the air quality problem in Houston. After Los Angeles, the Houston area typically has the highest levels of harmful ozone of any region in the country.

Researchers sifting through the data also learned more about how and why pollution levels rise sharply in the morning, Lefer said. During the day compounds are produced and destroyed rapidly, but at night researchers noticed high levels of radicals. Combined with sunlight and car pollution from the morning rush hour, these radicals serve as a catalyst for ozone.

Once researchers understand the sources of pollutants and the photochemical processes that produce ozone, Lefer said, they might be able to work with local industry to determine how refineries and petrochemical plants could modify their operations to reduce pollution.