The term originated in Great Britain as a popular derivation of '
smoke-fog' and appears to have been in common use before World War 1. It originally referred
to the heavy pollution derived largely from coal burning (largely
smoke filled air, rich in sulfur dioxide), and it probably was largely a reducing atmosphere.
More common today in cities is an oxidizing atmosphere which contains ozone and other
oxidants.
Source:
PAC, 1990, 62, 2167
(Glossary of atmospheric chemistry terms (Recommendations 1990))
on page 2214
Cite as:
IUPAC. Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 2nd ed. (the "Gold Book"). Compiled by
A. D. McNaught and A. Wilkinson. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford (1997).
XML on-line corrected version: http://goldbook.iupac.org (2006-) created by M. Nic,
J. Jirat, B. Kosata; updates compiled by A. Jenkins. ISBN 0-9678550-9-8.
https://doi.org/10.1351/goldbook.
