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Measuring Air Pollutant Uptake by Plants: Nitrogen Dioxide¹

ABSTRACT

Direct kinetic determinations of the uptake of nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) by selected plant species under various conditions were made using continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR) techniques. Second-order rate constants with respect to exposure concentration and leaf area were obtained for corn [Zea mays (L.) ‘Pioneer Brand 3369A’], soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr. ‘Davis’], loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.), and white oak (Quercus alba L.). Mean rate constants in units of 10^–3 dm^–2 min^–1 were: corn, 9.3; soybean, 13.6; loblolly pine, 13.7; and white oak, 2.8. On a mass basis, rates would be 3.5, 5.1, 5.2, and 1.1 x 10^–2 µg dm^–2 min^–1 pphm^–1 (pphm = parts per hundred million), respectively. Uptake rate constants remained the same over 5-hour exposure periods within the exposure concentration range of 0 to 58 pphm. The NO₂ uptake increased as the level of photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) increased. This effect of light was linearly correlated with the inverse of total diffusive resistance. Varying the level of tissue nitrogen (N) did not influence NO₂ uptake even though the leaves were smaller and chlorotic at the lower levels of tissue N. Photolysis of NO₂ occurred in controlled environment rooms under artificial light; the mean k₁ for photolysis was 0.03 min^–1.

Key Words: air pollutant sorption • CSTR • corn • soybean • loblolly pine • white oak • total diffusive resistance • photolysis

¹ Contribution of SEA-AR, USDA, Botany Dep., North Carolina State Univ., Raleigh, NC 27650. Paper is no. 5808 of the Journal Series of the North Carolina Agric. Exp. Stn., Raleigh, N.C.

² Plant Physiologist and Assistant Professor, SEA-AR, USDA, and Dep. of Botany, North Carolina State Univ., Raleigh; Associate Professor, School of Public Health, Dep. of Environ. Sci. and Eng., Univ. of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC 27514; and Associate Professor, Dep. of Botany, North Carolina State Univ., Raleigh, respectively.

Received for publication October 16, 1978.