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Effect of Microorganisms on the Sorption and Fate of Sulfur Dioxide and Nitrogen Dioxide in Soil¹

ABSTRACT

Sulfur dioxide was rapidly removed from the gas phase in contact with both nonsterile and sterile soil so that viable microorganisms are not directly involved in removal of this pollutant from the atmosphere. Sulfate was formed from the SO₂ in nonsterile and sterile soil. About one-fourth of the sulfur from the SO₂ introduced was not recovered in inorganic form, but the recovery was quantitative if the soil was first ignited to destroy organic matter.

Nitrogen dioxide was also readily lost from the gas phase in contact with nonsterile and sterile soil, and both nitrite and nitrate were generated. The role of microorganisms in the fate of this pollutant is in the conversion of the nitrite to nitrate.

Key Words: air pollution • nitrification • NO₂ • SO₂

¹ Contribution from the Dep. of Agron., Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY 14853. The senior author was supported by Public Health Service training grant ES00098 from the Div. of Environ. Health Sci.

² Research Associate and Professor of Soil Science, respectively.

Received for publication August 20, 1975.