Environmental Chemistry

Dean J. Campbell* *Mund-Lagowski Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Bradley University, Peoria, Illinois 61625, United States

by Dean J. Campbell* *Bradley University, Peoria, Illinois

Co-Authored by Dean J. Campbell*, Rhiannon Davids*, Ian Smith,* and Karl Jung* *Bradley University, Peoria, Illinois

This summer, I was fortunate to have spent two weeks participating in research at South Dakota State’s Ice Core and Environmental Chemistry Lab under the guidance of Dr. Cole-Dai.

An experiment that has always fascinated me is observing what happens when CO₂ is bubbled into limewater (which is a saturated solution of calcium hydroxide).^1-2 This experiment can be carried out by blowing bubbles of exhaled breath (which contains roughly 4% CO₂)³ through a straw into limewater.

On February 3, 2023, a train derailed in the town of East Palestine, Ohio.^1-2 Five of the train cars were carrying vinyl chloride (Figure 1), a compound that is mostly used to make PVC.

Dean J. Campbell* *Bradley University, Peoria, Illinois