background concentration (background level)

in atmospheric chemistry
Synonym: baseline concentration
https://doi.org/10.1351/goldbook.B00578
The concentration of a given species in a pristine air mass in which anthropogenic impurities of a relatively short lifetime are not present. The background concentrations of relatively long-lived molecules, methane, carbon dioxide, halocarbons (CF3Cl, CF2Cl2, etc.) and some other species continue to rise due to anthropogenic input, so the composition of background air is undergoing continual change. Background concentration of a given species is sometimes considered to be the concentration of that impurity in a given air mass when the contribution from anthropogenic sources under study is absent. Synonymous with baseline concentration.
Source:
PAC, 1990, 62, 2167. 'Glossary of atmospheric chemistry terms (Recommendations 1990)' on page 2175 (https://doi.org/10.1351/pac199062112167)