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
Higher sulfur oxides forms of solid SO) with oxide bridges (−O−) replaced randomly by peroxide bridges(−O−O−). As such these compounds are non-stoichiometric. Higher sulfur oxides Higher sulfur oxides are a group of chemical compounds with the formula SO where x lies between 0 and 1. They contain peroxo (O−O) groups and the oxidation state of sulfur is +6 as in SO. Monomeric SO can be isolated at low temperatures (below 78 K) following the reaction of SO and atomic oxygen or photolysis of SO–ozone mixtures. The favoured structure is: Colourless polymeric condensates are formed in the reaction of gaseous SO or SO with