What Can I Do To Help?

Aromatic hydrocarbons are pollutants. You could help cutting down on them by riding your bike to work or school, not smoking, community clean-ups, volunteer work, and switching to products that do not contain them. These are just a few of the ways you can help.

Want This To Happen To You?

Aromatic Hydrocarbons and YOU

This is a warning: NEVER GET THESE THINGS IN YOUR BODY! : ( Most aromatic hydrocarbons are poisonous. The EPA has recommended that YOU avoid these because they may be cancerous:
anthracene, pyrene, crycene, and pretty much everything else with an -ene. These can be found in smoke, fumes, and other pollutants. If anyone pregnant ingests these, it can lead to heart problems and asthma (chronic inflammatory disease of the airways). Here is a list of products they are in: cooked food, fat, tar, oil, coal, model glue, mothballs, and TOBACCO. Don't be fooled by its sweet scent, they WILL kill you. Be safe!

Aromatic Hydrocarbons and the UNIVERSE

On January of 2004, astrophysicists (scientists that study the physics of the universe) at the University of Toledo, Ohio, found ultra-violet signatures that match aromatic hydrocarbons anthracene and pyrene in the Red Rectangle Nebula, the most geometric nebula around. This discovery was considered controversial, as it confirmed the hypothesis that as the Red Rectangle started to die, heat inside the nebula's core causes carbon and hydrogen atoms to SHOOT out of the nebula. The team at the University of Toledo believes this was vital to form LIFE on Earth. We are made of carbon and water, and hydrogen is a key component of water. You can thank our good friends Aromatic Hydrocarbons for bringing us cool things like life.

Aromatic Hydrocarbons and THE EARTH We Live On

Aromatic Hydrocarbons are actually in almost everything. They can be found in oil, coal, tar, cigarette smoke, mothballs, cooked food, lacquer (paint covering), wood, incense and tanner. That a lot of stuff, right? Because they are very potent, it makes them a heavy atmospheric pollutant (pollute the environment). Hydrocarbons are lipophilic: they mix more easily with oil than water. This makes them less prone to evaporate (vaporization on the surface of a liquid).

Resonance in benzene and the carbonate ion

Formation of a carcinogen when you light a cigarette

What the Heck are Aromatic Hydrocarbons?

I know, a mouthful. Such a long word must have absolutely no relevance to your life, right? WRONG. Aromatic Hydrocarbons are exactly what it might sound like: a hydrocarbon is a compound of hydrogen and  carbon. Aromatic means many of the compounds have a sweet scent. Hydrocarbons form in a configuration called the 'Benzene Ring." WAIT. I know this might sound boring, but hear me out. A Benzene Ring is a hexagonal doughnut-shaped organic chemical compound which allows multiple organic compounds to bond together.. Aromatic hydrocarbons are in everything from paint thinners to cigarette smoke and have known to be carcinogenic, an agent that causes cancer. Now I have your attention, right?