Electron Capture Detector - One of the most sensitive gas chromatographic detector for halogen-containing compounds like chlorofluorocarbons. James Lovelock's early work with this detector led to the discovery that anthropogenic chlorofluorocarbons used most heavily in the Northern hemisphere were very long-lived and therefore well-mixed throughout the troposphere. Later work by Rowland and Molina suggested that CFCs also difussed into the stratosphere where their chlorine atoms could by freed by photolysis-CFC bond breaking by UV light. The result of this is the destruction of ozone molecules in the important ozone layer of the stratosphere.
Atmospheric Chemistry Glossary