Abstract
Methyl ethers of halogenated phenols have been identified in marine air samples from the North and South Hemispheres. The compounds are tribromoanisole, pentachloroanisole and tetrachlorohydroquinone dimethyl ether. The concentrations of these compounds are in the pg m
−3 range, and they are among the more abundant high-molecular weight halocarbons in the remote marine troposphere. A probable source of these compounds is the microbial methylation of the biocide pentachlorophenol and tribromophenol of either pollutant or natural origin.
