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Keppler F, Röhling AN, Jaeger N, Schroll M, Hartmann SC, Greule M. Sources and sinks of chloromethane in a salt marsh ecosystem: constraints from concentration and stable isotope measurements of laboratory incubation experiments. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE. PROCESSES & IMPACTS 2020; 22:627-641. [PMID: 32080692 DOI: 10.1039/c9em00540d] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Chloromethane (CH3Cl) is the most abundant long-lived chlorinated organic compound in the atmosphere and contributes significantly to natural stratospheric ozone depletion. Salt marsh ecosystems including halophyte plants are a known source of atmospheric CH3Cl but estimates of their total global source strength are highly uncertain and knowledge of the major production and consumption processes in the atmosphere-halophyte-soil system is yet incomplete. In this study we investigated the halophyte plant, Salicornia europaea, and soil samples from a coastal salt marsh site in Sardinia/Italy for their potential to emit and consume CH3Cl and using flux measurements, stable isotope techniques and Arrhenius plots differentiated between biotic and abiotic processes. Our laboratory approach clearly shows that at least 6 different production and consumption processes are active in controlling atmospheric CH3Cl fluxes of a salt marsh ecosystem. CH3Cl release by dried plant and soil material was substantially higher than that from the fresh material at temperatures ranging from 20 to 70 °C. Results of Arrhenius plots helped to distinguish between biotic and abiotic formation processes in plants and soils. Biotic CH3Cl consumption rates were highest at 30 °C for plants and 50 °C for soils, and microbial uptake was higher in soils with higher organic matter content. Stable isotope techniques helped to distinguish between formation and degradation processes and also provided a deeper insight into potential methyl moiety donor compounds, such as S-adenosyl-l-methionine, S-methylmethionine and pectin, that might be involved in the abiotic and biotic CH3Cl production processes. Our results clearly indicate that cycling of CH3Cl in salt marsh ecosystems is a result of several biotic and abiotic processes occurring simultaneously in the atmosphere-plant-soil system. Important precursor compounds for biotic and abiotic CH3Cl formation might be methionine derivatives and pectin. All formation and degradation processes are temperature dependent and thus environmental changes might affect the strength of each source and sink within salt marsh ecosystems and thus considerably alter total fluxes of CH3Cl from salt marsh ecosystems to the atmosphere.
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Affiliation(s)
- Frank Keppler
- Institute of Earth Sciences, Heidelberg University, Im Neuenheimer Feld 234-236, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany.
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Jaeger N, Besaury L, Röhling AN, Koch F, Delort AM, Gasc C, Greule M, Kolb S, Nadalig T, Peyret P, Vuilleumier S, Amato P, Bringel F, Keppler F. Chloromethane formation and degradation in the fern phyllosphere. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2018; 634:1278-1287. [PMID: 29660879 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.03.316] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2017] [Revised: 03/25/2018] [Accepted: 03/25/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Chloromethane (CH3Cl) is the most abundant halogenated trace gas in the atmosphere. It plays an important role in natural stratospheric ozone destruction. Current estimates of the global CH3Cl budget are approximate. The strength of the CH3Cl global sink by microbial degradation in soils and plants is under discussion. Some plants, particularly ferns, have been identified as substantial emitters of CH3Cl. Their ability to degrade CH3Cl remains uncertain. In this study, we investigated the potential of leaves from 3 abundant ferns (Osmunda regalis, Cyathea cooperi, Dryopteris filix-mas) to produce and degrade CH3Cl by measuring their production and consumption rates and their stable carbon and hydrogen isotope signatures. Investigated ferns are able to degrade CH3Cl at rates from 2.1 to 17 and 0.3 to 0.9μggdw-1day-1 for C. cooperi and D. filix-mas respectively, depending on CH3Cl supplementation and temperature. The stable carbon isotope enrichment factor of remaining CH3Cl was -39±13‰, whereas negligible isotope fractionation was observed for hydrogen (-8±19‰). In contrast, O. regalis did not consume CH3Cl, but produced it at rates ranging from 0.6 to 128μggdw-1day-1, with stable isotope values of -97±8‰ for carbon and -202±10‰ for hydrogen, respectively. Even though the 3 ferns showed clearly different formation and consumption patterns, their leaf-associated bacterial diversity was not notably different. Moreover, we did not detect genes associated with the only known chloromethane utilization pathway "cmu" in the microbial phyllosphere of the investigated ferns. Our study suggests that still unknown CH3Cl biodegradation processes on plants play an important role in global cycling of atmospheric CH3Cl.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicole Jaeger
- Institute of Earth Sciences, Heidelberg University, Im Neuenheimer Feld 236, Heidelberg, Germany.
| | - Ludovic Besaury
- Institut de Chimie de Clermont-Ferrand (ICCF), UMR6096 CNRS-UCA-Sigma, Clermont-Ferrand, France; Université de Strasbourg, CNRS, GMGM UMR 7156, Department of Microbiology, Genomics and the Environment, Strasbourg, France; UMR FARE, Université de Reims Champagne Ardenne, INRA, Reims, France
| | - Amelie Ninja Röhling
- Institute of Earth Sciences, Heidelberg University, Im Neuenheimer Feld 236, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Fabien Koch
- Institute of Earth Sciences, Heidelberg University, Im Neuenheimer Feld 236, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Anne-Marie Delort
- Institut de Chimie de Clermont-Ferrand (ICCF), UMR6096 CNRS-UCA-Sigma, Clermont-Ferrand, France
| | - Cyrielle Gasc
- Université Clermont Auvergne, INRA, MEDIS, Clermont-Ferrand, France
| | - Markus Greule
- Institute of Earth Sciences, Heidelberg University, Im Neuenheimer Feld 236, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Steffen Kolb
- Microbial Biogeochemistry, Research Area Landscape Functioning, Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), Müncheberg, Germany
| | - Thierry Nadalig
- Université de Strasbourg, CNRS, GMGM UMR 7156, Department of Microbiology, Genomics and the Environment, Strasbourg, France
| | - Pierre Peyret
- Université Clermont Auvergne, INRA, MEDIS, Clermont-Ferrand, France
| | - Stéphane Vuilleumier
- Université de Strasbourg, CNRS, GMGM UMR 7156, Department of Microbiology, Genomics and the Environment, Strasbourg, France
| | - Pierre Amato
- Institut de Chimie de Clermont-Ferrand (ICCF), UMR6096 CNRS-UCA-Sigma, Clermont-Ferrand, France
| | - Françoise Bringel
- Université de Strasbourg, CNRS, GMGM UMR 7156, Department of Microbiology, Genomics and the Environment, Strasbourg, France
| | - Frank Keppler
- Institute of Earth Sciences, Heidelberg University, Im Neuenheimer Feld 236, Heidelberg, Germany; Heidelberg Center for the Environment HCE, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany.
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Singla M, Rasmussen ML, Hashemi H, Wu H, Glarborg P, Pelucchi M, Faravelli T, Marshall P. Ab initio calculations and kinetic modeling of thermal conversion of methyl chloride: implications for gasification of biomass. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2018; 20:10741-10752. [PMID: 29364295 DOI: 10.1039/c7cp07552a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Limitations in current hot gas cleaning methods for chlorine species from biomass gasification may be a challenge for end use such as gas turbines, engines, and fuel cells, all requiring very low levels of chlorine. During devolatilization of biomass, chlorine is released partly as methyl chloride. In the present work, the thermal conversion of CH3Cl under gasification conditions was investigated. A detailed chemical kinetic model for pyrolysis and oxidation of methyl chloride was developed and validated against selected experimental data from the literature. Key reactions of CH2Cl with O2 and C2H4 for which data are scarce were studied by ab initio methods. The model was used to analyze the fate of methyl chloride in gasification processes. The results indicate that CH3Cl emissions will be negligible for most gasification technologies, but could be a concern for fluidized bed gasifiers, in particular in low-temperature gasification. The present work illustrates how ab initio theory and chemical kinetic modeling can help to resolve emission issues for thermal processes in industrial scale.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mallika Singla
- DTU Chemical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, 2800 Lyngby, Denmark.
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Thornton BF, Horst A, Carrizo D, Holmstrand H. Methyl chloride and methyl bromide emissions from baking: an unrecognized anthropogenic source. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2016; 551-552:327-33. [PMID: 26878644 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.01.213] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/08/2015] [Revised: 01/30/2016] [Accepted: 01/31/2016] [Indexed: 05/21/2023]
Abstract
Methyl chloride and methyl bromide (CH3Cl and CH3Br) are the largest natural sources of chlorine and bromine, respectively, to the stratosphere, where they contribute to ozone depletion. We report the anthropogenic production of CH3Cl and CH3Br during breadbaking, and suggest this production is an abiotic process involving the methyl ester functional groups in pectin and lignin structural polymers of plant cells. Wide variations in baking styles allow only rough estimates of this flux of methyl halides on a global basis. A simple model suggests that CH3Br emissions from breadbaking likely peaked circa 1990 at approximately 200tonnes per year (about 0.3% of industrial production), prior to restrictions on the dough conditioner potassium bromate. In contrast, CH3Cl emissions from breadbaking may be of similar magnitude as acknowledged present-day CH3Cl industrial emissions. Because the mechanisms involve functional groups and compounds widely found in plant materials, this type of methyl halide production may occur in other cooking techniques as well.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brett F Thornton
- Department of Geological Sciences, Stockholm University, Svante Arrhenius väg 8, 106 91 Stockholm, Sweden; Bolin Centre for Climate Research, Stockholm University, Svante Arrhenius väg 8, 106 91 Stockholm, Sweden.
| | - Axel Horst
- Department of Analytical Chemistry and Environmental Science, Stockholm University, Stockholm University, Svante Arrhenius väg 8, 106 91 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Daniel Carrizo
- Department of Analytical Chemistry and Environmental Science, Stockholm University, Stockholm University, Svante Arrhenius väg 8, 106 91 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Henry Holmstrand
- Bolin Centre for Climate Research, Stockholm University, Svante Arrhenius väg 8, 106 91 Stockholm, Sweden; Department of Analytical Chemistry and Environmental Science, Stockholm University, Stockholm University, Svante Arrhenius väg 8, 106 91 Stockholm, Sweden
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