Soil uptake of carbon monoxide emitted in the exhaust of a gasoline-powered engine.
Carbon monoxide (CO) poses dangers to both human and environmental health, sickening thousands of people annually in the United States and decreasing the capacity of the atmosphere to oxidize greenhouse gases. Globally, soil ecosystems with their populations of bacteria, fungi, and algae are estimated to remove 9-36% of total CO emissions, which makes them the second largest CO sink after hydroxyl oxidation. Our aim was determine whether soil ecosystems could remove CO from an atmosphere mixed with gasoline-powered engine exhaust. Sealed microcosms containing no soil (NoSoil), nonvegetated soil (Soil), or vegetated soil (Soil+Veg), were exposed to 800, 100, and 50 ppm of CO for 1 hr. The uptake rate of CO was found to be higher at the 800 ppm level suggesting first-order rate kinetics. Soil+Veg exhibited a significantly higher CO uptake rate than either Soil or NoSoil (P<0.05), and Soil exhibited significantly higher uptake than NoSoil (P<0.05). As a free ecosystem service, the uptake of CO by soil ecosystems needs to be properly valued and ecologically engineered into the urban traffic network in a manner analogous to how wetlands, vegetated swales, and other ecologically based storm water treatment systems have improved urban runoff.
Biological Resources Engineering Department and Natural Resources Management Program, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA. dtilley@umd.edu
David R
DR
Tilley
Jeff
J
Mentzer
D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism*; D002248:Carbon Monoxide / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism*; D005742:Gasoline; D010944:Plants; D012987:Soil; D012988:Soil Microbiology; D001335:Vehicle Emissions
D000393:Air Pollutants; D005742:Gasoline; D012987:Soil; D001335:Vehicle Emissions; D002248:Carbon Monoxide