Tropospheric methyl bromide (CH3Br) is the largest source of bromine to the stratosphere and plays an important role in ozone depletion. Here, the first stable bromine isotope composition (delta Br-81) of atmospheric CH3Br is presented. The delta Br-81 of higher concentration Stockholm samples and free air subarctic Abisko samples suggest a source/background value of -0.04 +/- 0.28 parts per thousand ranging up to +1.75 +/- 0.12 parts per thousand. The Stockholm delta Br-81 versus concentration relationship corresponds to an apparent isotope enrichment factor of -4.7 +/- 3.7 parts per thousand, representing the combined reaction sink. This study demonstrates the scientific potential of atmospheric delta Br-81 measurements, which in the future may be combined with other isotope systems in a top-down inverse approach to further understand key source and sink processes of methyl bromide.
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