Aerosol

Aerosol, suspension of small liquid or solid particles in a gas. Examples include smoke, fog, and clouds. Aerosol particles can remain in suspension for hours, or even indefinitely. Aerosols are also manufactured for the dispersion of insecticides, air fresheners, paints, cosmetics, etc. The use of the most common aerosol propellants, the fluorocarbons, has been curtailed because they have been implicated in the destruction of the ozone layer of the atmosphere.

See also: Fluorocarbon; Ozone.