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The use of lasers to monitor air pollution either in stacks or in the ambient air is quite common. The process relies on the fact that wavelengths of light can be reflected or absorbed by various chemicals in the air (hydrocarbons and hydrogen sulfide for example). The more of the gas present in the sample, the stronger the reflection or adsorption.

In stacks this generally requires the beam to be passed through the gas flow from a laser installed at one port and observed at a port opposite to it. In open air the beam is often directed at a receiver or reflected from a mirror to the transmitting laser for analysis.

In the lab, air can be collected in plastic bags and the contained gases to be spectroscopically analyzed by ordinary spectroscopic analysis equipment or by gas chromatography.

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