Details of Award
NERC Reference : NE/C514323/1
Enantioselective Binding of PCBs to Soil Organic Matter
Grant Award
- Principal Investigator:
- Professor S Harrad, University of Birmingham, Sch of Geography, Earth & Env Sciences
- Co-Investigator:
- Professor A Meharg, Queen's University of Belfast, Sch of Biological Sciences
- Grant held at:
- University of Birmingham, Sch of Geography, Earth & Env Sciences
- Science Area:
- Terrestrial
- Atmospheric
- Overall Classification:
- Terrestrial
- ENRIs:
- Pollution and Waste
- Environmental Risks and Hazards
- Science Topics:
- Pollution
- Land - Atmosphere Interactions
- Biogeochemical Cycles
- Soil science
- Abstract:
- Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) are industrial chemicals that although no longer manufactured, remain in use throughout the industrialised world. This continuing use, along with their resistance to degradation, means that they continue to be detected in the environment, from which they enter the food chain. This presence is of concern as currently significant proportions of UK children consume levels of PCBs that exceed the government's guideline limit. A significant amount of the total amount of PCBs in the environment are present in soil. As a result, if we are to work out the rate at which human PCB intakes will fall, it is important to learn more about the fate of PCB5 in soil and the factors that influence this. This project builds on previous research that exploits the fact that some PCBs exist in 2 forms (non-superimposable mirror images - like left and right hands) called enanliomers that although essentially chemically and physically identical, can be measured separately and can interact differently with biological systems. The project team has conducted previously some studies that show that the 2 enantiomers of some PCBs in soil are present in different amounts, and that these differences between enantiomers depend on the location and time of year. This is interesting because at the point of manufacture and use, concentrations of both enanliomers of these PCBS are equal. This project will conduct controlled laboratory experiments that will measure differences in amounts of the 2 enantiomers of selected PCBs in soil, and study a possible factor that may influence these. Although it is known that soil microbes can degrade one enantiomer in preference to the other, our hypothesis is that this degradation occurs too slowly to account entirely for the unequal concentrations of enanliomers seen in soil. Instead, this project will test the idea that the observed differences in enantiomer concentrations in soil are the result of preferential binding with soil organic matter (which is enzymatically generated and therefore of biological origin) of one enantiomer compared to the other. Such preferential binding would result in preferential loss - primarily via evaporation - of the less tightly bound enantiomer. The project will evaluate this idea via a series of experiments measuring the relative concentrations of enantiomers in both soil and evaporated material. By conducting the experiments in the same soil in presence and absence of both soil organic matter and soil microbes, the relative influence of these parameters on the relative fate of enantiomers will be assessed.
- NERC Reference:
- NE/C514323/1
- Grant Stage:
- Completed
- Scheme:
- Small Grants Pre FEC
- Grant Status:
- Closed
- Programme:
- Small Grants
This grant award has a total value of £30,661
FDAB - Financial Details (Award breakdown by headings)
| Total - Staff | Total - T&S | Total - Other Costs | Total - Indirect Costs |
|---|---|---|---|
| £13,832 | £288 | £10,179 | £6,362 |
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