Sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) is a gas whose molecules consist of one sulfur atom and six fluorine atoms.

It is colorless, odorless, non-toxic, and non-flammable, and is soluble in water and some other liquids.

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, SF6 is the most potent greenhouse gas that it has evaluated, with a global warming potential of 22,200 times that of CO2 over a 100 year period (for countries reporting their emissions to the UNFCCC, a GWP of 23,900 for SF6 is used as it was decreed at the third Conference of the Parties: GWP used in Kyoto protocol).

Its mixing ratio in the atmosphere is lower than that of CO2 (about 4 parts per trillion ppt in 1990 versus 365 ppm of carbon dioxide), its contribution to global warming is accordingly low..

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