Investigations of the Role of Chloroacetic Acids in Forest Ecosystems Using Carbon 14 and Chlorine 36

Matucha, Miroslav; Gryndler, Milan; Uhlířová, H.; Forczek, Sándor; Fuksová, K.; Schröder, P.
In The Synthesis and Applications of Istopes and Isotopically Labeled Compounds. International Isotope Society : 95, 2003

Keywords: Carbon 14; Chlorine 36; Chloroacetic acid
Abstract: Chloroacetic acids (CAAs), especially trichloroacetic acid (TCA), were considered to be of solely anthropogenic origin (e.g. formed by atmospheric photooxidation of Ca-chlorocarbons) and as such - secondary air pollutants with herbicidal properties - to be one of the stress factors affecting conifers1. Recently, another source of CAAs (or TCA, resp.) has been identified: humic substances in soil which may be degraded by microbial processes to yield CAAs and chloroform2. Our previous studies on TCA in the Norway spruce/soil-system have elucidated uptake, translocation and fate of TCA in the tree to some degree and demonstrated the important role of soil in the plant/soil-system1'3'4. However, the new aspect, viz. the formation of CAAs in soil, has considerably changed the situation in the research of the contribution of CAAs to forest decline. If CAAs are continuously produced and delivered from the soil to the roots, trees are exposed to CAA stress also from biogenic sources. On the other hand, CAAs are biodegraded by soil microorganisms thus participating in the degradation of humic substances and their precursors.
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IEB authors: Sándor Tamás Forczek