A record of atmospheric oxidant from polar ice cores over the past 100,000 years: dream or real possibility?

The principal oxidants of the earth’s atmosphere are O3, OH radical and H2O2. The total atmospheric burden of these three species determines the oxidation capacity of the atmosphere [Thompson, 1992]. Each of these species reacts with different atmospheric trace constituents, and determines their atmospheric lifetimes. In particular, the OH radical reacts very fast with almost all naturally and anthropogenically emitted species; therefore, this radical has the nickname “tropospheric vacuum cleaner” [Graedel, 1978].