Measurements and analysis of hydrogen peroxide rainwater levels in a Northwest region of Spain

The importance of atmospheric hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) in the oxidation of SO2 and other compounds, as well as its possible harmful affects on vegetation, has been well established. In this work, two FIA methods for determining H2O2 were compared, and a non-enzymatic method was adapted to analyze the rainwater samples. Measurements of hydrogen peroxide in rain samples were carried out at two different sites during 1993–1995, in the area surrounding a thermal power plant located in the Northwest of Spain. The concentration of H2O2 varied from values lower than the detection limit (0.002 μM) to 2.706 μM. The effects of the rainwater components and the meteorological factors in temporal, seasonal and spatial H2O2 pattern concentrations were studied.