College of Sciences

A BioLab manufacturing facility in Conyers is continuing to release chlorine, chloramines and chlorine compounds in an incident that originated from a small rooftop fire in the early morning of September 29. The fire activated a sprinkler system and doused water-reactive trichloroisocyanuric acid (TCCA) inside the building. This initiated a chemical decomposition reaction that released chlorine gas into the atmosphere. 

Love Family Professor Sally Ng in the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences confirms the morning after the fire, the number of chlorine-containing particles detected in the air at the Ascent's Decatur site, around 28km from the BioLab plant, had increased by about 1400 times. Bromine-containing particles in the air increases by about 170 times, she says. 

The freshly formed Tropical Storm Leslie is heading in the direction of the East Coast as it intensifies, current National Hurricane Center (NHC) forecasts predict. Low wind shear, as well as sea surface temperatures and atmospheric moisture, are key factors that affect whether a storm will intensify into a hurricane, and how strong that hurricane might get. Senior Academic Professional Zachary Handlos in the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences says "tropical cyclones primarily thrive from the following atmospheric ingredients: warm sea surface temperatures and a sufficiently deep layer of warm water, all serving as a key source of energy for a tropical cyclone as well as weak middle and upper level atmospheric winds." 

A fire at a chemical plant in Rockdale County sent a colossal plume of smoke into the sky. Chemicals released from the fire at the BioLab in Conyers include chlorine, chloramine and chlorine compounds, according to the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency. Additionally, bromine — another chemical used in spa and pool treatments as an alternative to chlorine and has a bleach-like odor — was also detected, though at lower levels.

Love Family Professor Nga Lee (Sally) in the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences says "a system known as the Atmospheric Science and Chemistry Measurement Network detected a 1,400-times increase in the amount of chlorine-containing particles in the air, and a 170-times increase in the amount of bromine-containing particles in the air over Decatur on Monday morning. Typically, there is little of either element in the air."