Air Pollutants

Uric acid (or urate) is a heterocyclic compound of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and hydrogen with the formula C5H4N4O3. Uric acid is created when the body breaks down purine nucleotides.

Pentanal, also called pentanaldehyde or valerialdehyde, is an alkyl aldehyde, molecular formula C5H10O. It is used in flavorings, resin chemistry, and rubber accelerators.

Valeric acid, or pentanoic acid, is a straight-chain alkyl carboxylic acid with the chemical formula C5H10O2. Like other low-molecular-weight carboxylic acids, it has a very unpleasant odor. It is found naturally in the perennial flowering plant valerian (Valeriana officinalis), from which it gets its name. Its primary use is in the synthesis of its esters. Volatile esters of valeric acid tend to have pleasant odors and are used in perfumes and cosmetics. Ethyl valerate and pentyl valerate are used as food additives because of their fruity flavors. Valeric acid has a similar structure to both GHB and the neurotransmitter GABA. It differs from valproic acid simply by lacking a 3-carbon side chain.

Vinyl acetate is an organic compound with the formula CH3COOCH=CH2. A colorless liquid with a pungent odor, it is the precursor to polyvinyl acetate, an important polymer in industry.

Vinyl chloride is the organochloride with the formula H2C:CHCl. It is also called vinyl chloride monomer, or VCM. This colorless compound is an important industrial chemical chiefly used to produce the polymer polyvinyl chloride (PVC). At ambient pressure and temperature, vinyl chloride is a gas with a sickly sweet odor. It is highly toxic, flammable and carcinogenic.

The term xylene or xylol refers to a mixture of three structural isomers of the aromatic hydrocarbon dimethylbenzene. Xylene is a clear, colorless, sweet-smelling liquid that is very flammable. It is usually refined from crude oil in a process called alkylation. It is also produced as a by-product from coal carbonisation derived from coke ovens, extracted from crude benzole from gas, or by dehydrocyclodimerization and methylating of toluene and benzene. It is also manufactured from reformate.