Scientists at the University of York's Department of Chemistry conducted the first research that supported the concept of a 50 km wide chemical equator by comparing concentrations of atmospheric pollutants.[1] They observed that the atmospheric boundary, where drastic and quick changes in pollutants occurred, was well north of the Intertropical Convergence Zone, which was previously thought to be the only chemical atmospheric boundary. This discovery is also the first observance of meteorological and chemical boundaries between air masses not being the same.[2]