Carboxylic acids in the troposphere, occurrence, sources, and sinks: A review

Carboxylic acids are ubiquitous and important components of the troposphere; they are currently measured in different environments. They are thought to have several sources comprising primary biogenic and anthropogenic emissions, hydrocarbons gas-phase oxidations, and some carbonyl compounds aqueous-phase oxidations. In the present review we make a synthesis of the concentrations of low molecular weight carboxylic acids in tropospheric aqueous and gaseous phases and in aerosol particles for different environments. We also successively examine the major sources of carboxylic acids and discuss their relative contribution to tropospheric concentrations for various environments as well as the principal sinks of these compounds.