A Brief History of (Urban) Grime

Abstract

Surfaces exposed to outdoor and even indoor environments, especially in urban settings, develop a coating comprised of chemical compounds deposited from the overlying atmosphere and products of reactions occurring within this coating. Early work recognized the potential of this coating to reflect the local atmospheric concentrations of pollutants. More recently, the potential of such coatings (“urban grime”) to participate in active exchange of important atmospheric oxidants and their precursors has been explored. Here, I will present my perspective on the history of urban grime chemistry studies and where the future may lie in these.