Hydrochloric Acid: An Overlooked Driver of Environmental Change
Hydrochloric Acid: An Overlooked Driver of Environmental Change
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DOI：
10.1021/es103574u
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发表时间：
2011-03-01
影响因子：
11.4
通讯作者：
Brayshaw, Susan
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Evans, Chris D.;Monteith, Don T.;Brayshaw, Susan
关于酸化污染物对生态系统的影响以及控制措施的研究几乎完全集中在硫（S）和氮（N）化合物上。虽然燃煤排放的盐酸（HCl）被忽视为生态系统变化的驱动因素，因为大多数HCl被认为是在排放源附近而不是在偏远的自然生态系统中重新沉积。尽管很少受到监管部门的关注，但减少硫排放的措施以及能源供应的变化已使英国的HCl排放量在20年内减少了95%。长期的降水、地表水和土壤溶液数据表明，在这段时间内，HCl从沉积中几乎消失可能占酸化化学恢复的30-40%，影响近源和偏远地区。由于HCl在还原环境中具有高度移动的性，因此它是比S或N更有效的湿地酸化剂，并且HCl可能是过去泥炭地酸化的主要驱动力。因此，减少盐酸负荷可能会影响泥炭地的碳循环，有助于增加溶解的有机碳沥滤到地表沃茨。随着许多地区越来越依赖煤炭发电，应将氯化氢视为所产生排放的潜在重要组成部分，并对生态系统产生独特的影响。
Research on the ecosystem impacts of acidifying pollutants, and measures to control them, has focused almost exclusively on sulfur (S) and nitrogen (N) compounds. Hydrochloric acid (HCl), although emitted by coal burning, has been overlooked as a driver of ecosystem change because most of it was considered to redeposit close to emission sources rather than in remote natural ecosystems. Despite receiving little regulatory attention, measures to reduce S emissions, and changes in energy supply, have led to a 95% reduction in United Kingdom HCl emissions within 20 years. Long-term precipitation, surface water, and soil solution data suggest that the near-disappearance of HCl from deposition could account for 30-40% of chemical recovery from acidification during this time, affecting both near-source and remote areas. Because HCl is highly mobile in reducing environments, it is a more potent acidifier of wetlands than S or N, and HCl may have been the major driver of past peatland acidification. Reduced HCl loadings could therefore have affected the peatland carbon cycle, contributing to increases in dissolved organic carbon leaching to surface waters. With many regions increasingly reliant on coal for power generation, HCl should be recognized as a potentially significant constituent of resulting emissions, with distinctive ecosystem impacts.