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The eruption of the Miyake‐jima Volcano (34.08°N, 139.53°E) in the Izu Islands, Japan, 180 km SSW of Tokyo, began on 8 July 2000. A substantial amount of NH3 gas was found to be emitted from the Miyake‐jima Volcano together with SO2 gas and that geochemically significant quantities of aerosol particles composed of ammonium sulfate form in the plume. Through the use of satellite images, the additional atmospheric deposition of ammonium sulfate caused an increase of phyto‐plankton in the nutrient‐deficient region south of the Kuroshio. The emission of volcanic gases from the Miyake‐jima has likely been modifying the marine air quality as well as the open ocean ecosystem over parts of the western North Pacific for the past several years.

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An automated measurement system for monitoring formaldehyde (HCHO) and acetaldehyde (CH3CHO) in automotive exhaust gas by using a diffusion scrubber in combination with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was developed. HCHO and CH3CHO are effectively collected by the diffusion scrubber, which consists of a hydrophobic porous PTFE tube disposed concentrically within a Pyrex-glass tube and a scrubbing solution. 2,4-Dinitrophenylhydrazine is used as the scrubbing solution for trapping HCHO and CH3CHO, which are derivatized to formaldehyde 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazone (DNPH-HCHO) and acetaldehyde 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazone (DNPH-CH3CHO), respectively, with phosphoric acid as an acid catalyst. After the collection of the gas sample, the sample solution in the diffusion scrubber is injected into the HPLC system and DNPH-HCHO and DNPH-CH3CHO are separated and determined. All measurement operations are sequenced by a programmable controller and an automated continuous measurement can be performed at 10 min intervals. The collection efficiencies of HCHO and CH3CHO were higher than 97% at a gas flow rate of 0.21 min-1. The detection limit (3 sigma of the blank value) was 0.001 ppm v/v for HCHO and CH3CHO for a 1.61 gas sample volume. No interference of co-existing nitrogen dioxide (NO2) in the collection of HCHO and CH3CHO was observed. The average concentration of HCHO in the exhaust gas from methanol-fueled vehicles was 77.3 ppm v/v (n = 5) in the cold-phase mode when engines were first started. In the hot-phase mode, the average concentration of HCHO was 3.3 ppm v/v (n = 15). The concentrations of HCHO measured by this automated measurement system were in good agreement with those obtained using the impinger-HPLC method.

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