Photoformation rate, steady-state concentration and lifetime of nitric oxide radical (NO·) in a eutrophic river in Higashi-Hiroshima, Japan.

ABSTRACT

Monthly measurements (January-December 2013) of the photoformation rate, steady-state concentration and lifetime of nitric oxide radical (NO·) in the Kurose River in Higashi-Hiroshima City, Japan, were obtained. Each month, river water samples were collected at six different stations (upstream to downstream). NO· was quantified using 4, 5-diaminofluorescein-2 (DAF-2) as a probe and triazolofluorescein (DAF-2T) as a standard. Results show that NO· photoformation rate ranged from 0.01 to 35.4 (×10(-10) M s(-1)). The radical steady-state concentration in the river ranged from 0.02 to 68.5 (×10(-11) M). There was a strong correlation (r(2)=0.95) between NO· photoformation rate and the nitrite concentration in the river suggesting that this anion is a major NO· precursor. On average, 98% of the photoformed NO· came from river nitrite, and this was calculated using the photoformation rate constant {5.7×10(-5) M(NO·)s(-1) M(NO2(-))(-1)} of NO· from the anion concentration found in the study. The NO· lifetime ranged from 0.05 to 1.3 s in the river and remained fairly stable in the upstream and downstream samples. The ·OH radical, which was quantified during the study, had a photoformation rate of 0.01-13.4 (×10(-10) M s(-1)) and a steady-state concentration of 0.04-119 (×10(-16) M) with a lifetime that ranged from 0.3 to 22.5 (×10(-6) s). ·OH only accounted for ⩽0.0011% of the total NO· scavenged, showing that it was not a major sink for river NO·.