--- title: Natural Sources of Airborne Molecular Contamination description: Even the most pristine landscapes can generate airborne molecular contamination – learn what to look out for! image: https://blog.entegris.com/hubfs/blog-amc-control-solutions-for-commercial-operations-hero-13886-1918x545.jpg --- [![logo-header-desktop](https://blog.entegris.com/hubfs/logo-header-desktop.svg "logo-header-desktop")](https://blog.entegris.com) - [Science & Innovation](https://blog.entegris.com/tag/science-technology#featured) - [Chemical Suppliers](https://blog.entegris.com/tag/chemical-suppliers#featured) - [Logic Manufacturers](https://blog.entegris.com/tag/logic-manufacturers#featured) - [Memory Manufacturers](https://blog.entegris.com/tag/memory-manufacturers#featured) - [Semiconductor Manufacturers](https://blog.entegris.com/tag/semiconductor-manufacturers#featured) - [News](https://www.entegris.com/en/home/about-us/news/media-coverage.html) - [Talent](https://www.entegris.com/careers) - [Resources](https://www.entegris.com/en/home/resources.html) - [Reference Materials](https://www.entegris.com/en/home/resources/reference-materials.html) - [Technical Information](https://www.entegris.com/en/home/resources/technical-information.html) - [About Us](https://www.entegris.com/en/home/about-us/corporate-overview.html) - [Entegris.com](https://www.entegris.com/) - [Careers](https://www.entegris.com/en/home/about-us/careers.html) - [Corporate Overview](https://www.entegris.com/en/home/about-us/corporate-overview.html) - [Events](https://www.entegris.com/en/home/about-us/events.html) - [Investor Relations](https://www.entegris.com/en/home/about-us/investor-relations.html) - [Legal/Trademark Notices](https://www.entegris.com/en/home/about-us/legal-trademark-notices.html) - [Locations](https://www.entegris.com/en/home/about-us/locations.html) - [Services Overview](https://www.entegris.com/en/home/our-science/by-service.html) ![hero-654791312-sized](https://blog.entegris.com/hs-fs/hubfs/hero-654791312-sized.jpg?width=3400&name=hero-654791312-sized.jpg "hero-654791312-sized") # Ensights Science that is transforming lives and enabling the future ## Natural Sources of Airborne Molecular Contamination - [Semiconductor Manufacturers (66)](https://blog.entegris.com/tag/semiconductor-manufacturers) - [Science & Innovation (59)](https://blog.entegris.com/tag/science-innovation) - [Logic Manufacturers (41)](https://blog.entegris.com/tag/logic-manufacturers) - [Memory Manufacturers (39)](https://blog.entegris.com/tag/memory-manufacturers) - [Chemical Suppliers (23)](https://blog.entegris.com/tag/chemical-suppliers) - [Materials Solutions (16)](https://blog.entegris.com/tag/materials-solutions) - [Talent (14)](https://blog.entegris.com/tag/talent) - [Advanced Packaging (2)](https://blog.entegris.com/tag/advanced-packaging) - [Corporate (2)](https://blog.entegris.com/tag/corporate) [All](https://blog.entegris.com/) [![](https://blog.entegris.com/hubfs/Blog/Arrow%20Left.png)All Posts](https://blog.entegris.com) # Natural Sources of Airborne Molecular Contamination - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) ### Natural Sources of Airborne Molecular Contamination When we think about the natural world, we often picture pure, uncontaminated beauty. We don’t think about gas-phase contamination that can affect people, processes, and products. Unfortunately, the natural world – even if it is completely untainted by pollution – still frequently produces chemicals that can have a negative effect on commercial and industrial facilities. Sometimes, airborne molecular contamination (AMC) forms as a result of human-caused pollution – smog in the atmosphere, for example. Other times, there are natural sources of contamination that can affect your people, processes, and products. These include oceans and salt lakes, freshwater lakes and wetlands, and atmospheric interactions. Here’s what to look out for depending on where you work. Oceans and Salt Lakes![blog-natural-sources-of-airborne-molecular-contamination-oceans-salt-lakes-inline-13886-600x600](https://blog.entegris.com/hs-fs/hubfs/blog-natural-sources-of-airborne-molecular-contamination-oceans-salt-lakes-inline-13886-600x600.jpg?width=227&height=227&name=blog-natural-sources-of-airborne-molecular-contamination-oceans-salt-lakes-inline-13886-600x600.jpg) Is there anything better than an ocean view?  If you run a sensitive facility, the view isn’t what you should be worried about. The ocean contains huge amounts of both bacteria and phytoplankton, and their waste gases often contain sulfur. Dimethyl sulfoxide and dimethyl disulfide are both contaminants produced by oceanic life, and they can be highly corrosive in their pure forms – plus they can react in the atmosphere to form other gases.  In addition, the ocean produces salt spray, which is corrosive by itself, but can also form acidic gases such as hydrogen chloride or nitric acid. Salt lakes, such as Utah’s Great Salt Lake, can also produce the same corrosive emissions in high wind conditions. Worldwide, almost [40% of the human population](https://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/natlinfo/indicators/methodology_sheets/oceans_seas_coasts/pop_coastal_areas.pdf) lives within 100 km (approximately 60 miles) from a coastal area. Incidentally, AMC from oceanic sources can also penetrate up to 100 km inland. Even if you don’t have oceanfront property, you still may need to be concerned with oceanic AMC. **Freshwater Lakes and Wetlands** Just because a nearby body of water isn’t salty, it still can emit contaminants that are bad for your facility. Lakes, rivers, swamps, and bogs can all emit varying amounts of hydrogen sulfide (H2S). This chemical is a major concern for data centers and microelectronics plants because it is highly reactive with copper.  When in the presence of copper, H2S forms tiny, whisker-like structures known as dendrites. Dendrites can cause short circuits if they accidentally bridge copper traces together, which is a serious issue given the compact circuitry found on electronic circuit boards. What’s more, H2S can also cause solder connections to deteriorate, creating intermittent contact problems with electronic components. This necessitates more frequent maintenance or equipment replacement.  Atmospheric Interactions Every emission above takes place within our atmosphere, which can best be understood as a vast laboratory for interactions between sunlight, gases, particulates, and surfaces. Uncontrolled atmospheric chemical reactions can produce emissions that are worse than their constituents. Organic gases and nitrogen oxides can have negative impacts on their own, but they produce smog when mixed together, which can be very unhealthy and reactive. Again, while some of these reactions are caused by atmospheric pollution, others are caused by naturally occurring chemicals. Even if you move your facility to a place that has never seen a smokestack, you still may find your products, processes, and employees affected.  Mitigating Natural Sources of AMC It’s hard to get away from the atmosphere, but you can mitigate the way that it intrudes into your facility with AMC filtration. Using Entegris’ [See it. Control it](https://info.entegris.com/defining-environment-before-deploying-filtration-solution). approach we can detect the mixture of chemicals that affect your environment – from both natural and artificial sources – down to the parts-per-trillion level. Then, we’ll build custom filters with adsorbents specifically designed to target those contaminants. This results in a safer environment for your employees and better outcomes for your processes and equipment. The idea of an uncontaminated natural wilderness might be a myth, but you can still enjoy an uncontaminated facility! Visit our [Commercial Air Quality](https://www.entegris.com/en/home/our-science/by-industry/industrial/commercial-air-quality.html) solutions page to learn more about how Entegris’ filtration approach can enable advanced technologies, products, and health standards.  ![Entegris](https://blog.entegris.com/hubfs/Logo_transparent.png) ###### Entegris - Recent - Popular - Categories [Molybdenum’s Role in Ultra-Fast Computing: The Metal Behind the Speed](https://blog.entegris.com/molybdenums-role-in-ultra-fast-computing-the-metal-behind-the-speed) May, 2026 [Effect of POU Filter Pore Size on EUV Bridge Defect Density](https://blog.entegris.com/effect-of-pou-filter-pore-size-on-euv-bridge-defect-density) Apr, 2026 [Hydrogen Halides in Semiconductor Manufacturing: Three Gases, Three Distinct Challenges and Solutions](https://blog.entegris.com/hydrogen-halides-in-semiconductor-manufacturing-three-gases-three-distinct-challenges-and-solutions) Mar, 2026 [Discover EDM-C3® Premium Copper- Impregnated Graphite](https://blog.entegris.com/discover-edm-c3-premium-copper-impregnated-graphite) Feb, 2026 [End-to-End Manufacturing Excellence: Seven Questions Every New (or Growing) Fab Team Should Be Asking](https://blog.entegris.com/end-to-end-manufacturing-excellence-seven-questions-every-new-or-growing-fab-team-should-be-asking) Feb, 2026 [Under Pressure: Solving High Viscosity Material Challenges in Advanced Packaging](https://blog.entegris.com/under-pressure-solving-high-viscosity-material-challenges-in-advanced-packaging) Jan, 2026 [Cleaner Chemistry and Faster Startup with Next Generation Ancillary Photochemical Filters](https://blog.entegris.com/cleaner-chemistry-and-faster-startup-with-next-generation-ancillary-photochemical-filters) Dec, 2025 [Solving Bridge Defects in EUV CAR Resists with Advanced UPE Filtration](https://blog.entegris.com/solving-bridge-defects-in-euv-car-resists-with-advanced-upe-filtration) Dec, 2025 [Building Resilient Infrastructure to Better Serve Our Customers](https://blog.entegris.com/building-resilient-infrastructure-to-better-serve-our-customers) Dec, 2025 [Collaborating to Solve Advanced Packaging Substrate Challenges](https://blog.entegris.com/collaborating-to-solve-advanced-packaging-substrate-challenges) Dec, 2025 [Molybdenum’s Role in Ultra-Fast Computing: The Metal Behind the Speed](https://blog.entegris.com/molybdenums-role-in-ultra-fast-computing-the-metal-behind-the-speed) May, 2026 [Scaling New Heights: How Molybdenum is Revolutionizing 3D NAND Architectures](https://blog.entegris.com/scaling-new-heights-how-molybdenum-is-revolutionizing-3d-nand-architectures) Aug, 2025 [End-to-End Manufacturing Excellence: Seven Questions Every New (or Growing) Fab Team Should Be Asking](https://blog.entegris.com/end-to-end-manufacturing-excellence-seven-questions-every-new-or-growing-fab-team-should-be-asking) Feb, 2026 [Collaborating to Solve Advanced Packaging Substrate Challenges](https://blog.entegris.com/collaborating-to-solve-advanced-packaging-substrate-challenges) Dec, 2025 [DRAM: Device Fabrication](https://blog.entegris.com/dram-device-fabrication) Jun, 2020 [Hydrogen Halides in Semiconductor Manufacturing: Three Gases, Three Distinct Challenges and Solutions](https://blog.entegris.com/hydrogen-halides-in-semiconductor-manufacturing-three-gases-three-distinct-challenges-and-solutions) Mar, 2026 [Under Pressure: Solving High Viscosity Material Challenges in Advanced Packaging](https://blog.entegris.com/under-pressure-solving-high-viscosity-material-challenges-in-advanced-packaging) Jan, 2026 [New Materials: Smoothing the Transition to Molybdenum](https://blog.entegris.com/new-materials-smoothing-the-transition-to-molybdenum) Sep, 2023 [Optimizing Wafer Polishing: Innovations in CMP Slurry Characterization and Filtration](https://blog.entegris.com/optimizing-wafer-polishing-innovations-in-cmp-slurry-characterization-and-filtration) Oct, 2025 [Cleaner Chemistry and Faster Startup with Next Generation Ancillary Photochemical Filters](https://blog.entegris.com/cleaner-chemistry-and-faster-startup-with-next-generation-ancillary-photochemical-filters) Dec, 2025 ### Lists by Topic - 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