Hydrochloric Acid: An Overlooked Driver of Environmental Change

Evans, Chris D. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7052-354X; Monteith, Don T. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3219-1772; Fowler, David; Cape, J. Neil; Brayshaw, Susan. 2011 Hydrochloric Acid: An Overlooked Driver of Environmental Change. Environmental Science & Technology, 45 (5). 1887-1894. 10.1021/es103574u

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Official URL: http://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/es103574u

Abstract/Summary

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 amore 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.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	10.1021/es103574u
Programmes:	CEH Topics & Objectives 2009 - 2012 > Biogeochemistry > BGC Topic 1 - Monitoring and Interpretation of Biogeochemical and Climate Changes > BGC - 1.3 - Quantify & attribute changes in biogeochemiical cycles ... CEH Topics & Objectives 2009 - 2012 > Water > WA Topic 1 - Variability and Change in Water Systems > WA - 1.2 - Quantify variability and departures from natural historical variability in water quality ... CEH Topics & Objectives 2009 - 2012 > Biodiversity > BD Topic 1 - Observations, Patterns, and Predictions for Biodiversity > BD - 1.3 - Long-term/large-scale monitoring and experiments ...
UKCEH and CEH Sections/Science Areas:	Billett (to November 2013) Emmett Parr
ISSN:	0013-936X
NORA Subject Terms:	Ecology and Environment Atmospheric Sciences
Date made live:	16 Mar 2011 12:12 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/13286

Item Type:

Publication - Article

Digital Object Identifier (DOI):

10.1021/es103574u

Programmes: