Recently evidence has been accumulating pointing to the possibility of a sink for atmospheric trace gases in the desert areas of the world, specifically the Sahara. The proposed mechanism involves adsorption of molecules onto silicate surfaces, and photolysis of the adsorbed molecules by long-wave solar radiation (&lgr;>300 nm). To obtain data on this possible sink mechanism we took part in flights over East Africa, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Atlantic Ocean. We collected air samples in dust clouds over East Africa, and in non-dusty air over Africa, The Mediterranean, and the Atlantic. The results of our measurements show that the samples of air collected in the dust clouds have significantly lower concentrations of N2O, CCl4, and CH3CCl3, whereas there is no significant difference between the dusty and non-dusty air samples for CF2CL2 and CFCl3. This is in general agreement with the experimental results, which found that CCl4 is photolyzed much more rapidly than CFCl3 and CF2Cl2. However, the differences in N2O, CCl4, and CH3CCl4 concentrations between dusty and nondusty air samples are relatively small, and the number of samples is insufficient to support any firm conclusions. The most that can be said is that the results of our measurements are consistent with the hypothesis that desert regions may be acting as sinks for a number of atmospheric trace gases, and that further research is clearly needed in this area.