Environmental issues in Syria Attacks on oil refineries can cause oil fires which release harmful chemicals into the air, such as sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The sulphur and nitrogen compounds are linked to acid rain which can have dire impacts on vegetation as well as cause soil acidification. PAHs persist in the environment for long periods of time and are known carcinogens. Syria also extracts heavy crude oil, which generally has a higher proportion of noxious substances, including heavy metals, making it especially dangerous when these substances seep into the soil. Syria has two oil refineries. The
Nitrogen dioxide This reaction is negligibly slow at low concentrations of NO characteristic of the ambient atmosphere, although it does proceed upon NO uptake to surfaces. Such surface reaction is thought to produce gaseous HNO (often written as HONO) in outdoor and indoor environments. Nitric acid decomposes slowly to nitrogen dioxide by the overall reaction: The nitrogen dioxide so formed confers the characteristic yellow color often exhibited by this acid. is used to generate anhydrous metal nitrates from the oxides: Alkyl and metal iodides give the corresponding nitrites: is introduced into the environment by natural causes, including entry from the stratosphere, bacterial