Correcting a major error in assessing organic carbon pollution in natural waters

Nianzhi Jiao; Jihua Liu; Bethanie  Edwards; Zongqing  Lv; Ruanhong Cai; Yongqin  Liu; Xilin  Xiao; Jianning  Wang; Fanglue  Jiao; Rui Wang; Xingyu  Huang; Bixi  Guo; Jia  Sun; Rui Zhang; Yao  Zhang; Kai Tang; Qiang Zheng; Farooq Azam; John Batt; Wei-Jun Cai; Chen  He; Gerhard J. Herndl; Paul  Hill; David A. Hutchins; Julie LaRoche; Marlon  Lewis; Hugh MacIntyre; Luca Polimene; Carol Robinson; Quan Shi; Curtis Suttle; Helmuth Thomas; Douglas Wallace; Louis Legendre

doi:10.1126/sciadv.abc7318

Correcting a major error in assessing organic carbon pollution in natural waters

Nianzhi Jiao, Jihua Liu, Bethanie Edwards, Zongqing Lv, Ruanhong Cai, Yongqin Liu, Xilin Xiao, Jianning Wang, Fanglue Jiao, Rui Wang, Xingyu Huang, Bixi Guo, Jia Sun, Rui Zhang, Yao Zhang, Kai Tang, Qiang Zheng, Farooq Azam, John Batt, Wei-Jun CaiChen He, Gerhard J. Herndl, Paul Hill, David A. Hutchins, Julie LaRoche, Marlon Lewis, Hugh MacIntyre, Luca Polimene, Carol Robinson, Quan Shi, Curtis Suttle, Helmuth Thomas, Douglas Wallace, Louis Legendre

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Abstract

Microbial degradation of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in aquatic environments can cause oxygen depletion, water acidification, and CO2 emissions. These problems are caused by labile DOC (LDOC) and not refractory DOC (RDOC) that resists degradation and is thus a carbon sink. For nearly a century, chemical oxygen demand (COD) has been widely used for assessment of organic pollution in aquatic systems. Here, we show through a multicountry survey and experimental studies that COD is not an appropriate proxy of microbial degradability of organic matter because it oxidizes both LDOC and RDOC, and the latter contributes up to 90% of DOC in high-latitude forested areas. Hence, COD measurements do not provide appropriate scientific information on organic pollution in natural waters and can mislead environmental policies. We propose the replacement of the COD method with an optode-based biological oxygen demand method to accurately and efficiently assess organic pollution in natural aquatic environments.

Original language	English
Article number	eabc7318
Number of pages	10
Journal	Science Advances
Volume	7
Issue number	16
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abc7318
Publication status	Published - 14 Apr 2021

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Jiao, N., Liu, J., Edwards, B., Lv, Z., Cai, R., Liu, Y., Xiao, X., Wang, J., Jiao, F., Wang, R., Huang, X., Guo, B., Sun, J., Zhang, R., Zhang, Y., Tang, K., Zheng, Q., Azam, F., Batt, J., ... Legendre, L. (2021). Correcting a major error in assessing organic carbon pollution in natural waters. Science Advances, 7(16), [eabc7318]. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abc7318

Jiao, Nianzhi ; Liu, Jihua ; Edwards, Bethanie ; Lv, Zongqing ; Cai, Ruanhong ; Liu, Yongqin ; Xiao, Xilin ; Wang, Jianning ; Jiao, Fanglue ; Wang, Rui ; Huang, Xingyu ; Guo, Bixi ; Sun, Jia ; Zhang, Rui ; Zhang, Yao ; Tang, Kai ; Zheng, Qiang ; Azam, Farooq ; Batt, John ; Cai, Wei-Jun ; He, Chen ; Herndl, Gerhard J. ; Hill, Paul ; Hutchins, David A. ; LaRoche, Julie ; Lewis, Marlon ; MacIntyre, Hugh ; Polimene, Luca ; Robinson, Carol ; Shi, Quan ; Suttle, Curtis ; Thomas, Helmuth ; Wallace, Douglas ; Legendre, Louis. / Correcting a major error in assessing organic carbon pollution in natural waters. In: Science Advances. 2021 ; Vol. 7, No. 16.

@article{eb6b272ff7144b8dbb2c4530ff13a4dd,

title = "Correcting a major error in assessing organic carbon pollution in natural waters",

abstract = "Microbial degradation of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in aquatic environments can cause oxygen depletion, water acidification, and CO2 emissions. These problems are caused by labile DOC (LDOC) and not refractory DOC (RDOC) that resists degradation and is thus a carbon sink. For nearly a century, chemical oxygen demand (COD) has been widely used for assessment of organic pollution in aquatic systems. Here, we show through a multicountry survey and experimental studies that COD is not an appropriate proxy of microbial degradability of organic matter because it oxidizes both LDOC and RDOC, and the latter contributes up to 90% of DOC in high-latitude forested areas. Hence, COD measurements do not provide appropriate scientific information on organic pollution in natural waters and can mislead environmental policies. We propose the replacement of the COD method with an optode-based biological oxygen demand method to accurately and efficiently assess organic pollution in natural aquatic environments.",

author = "Nianzhi Jiao and Jihua Liu and Bethanie Edwards and Zongqing Lv and Ruanhong Cai and Yongqin Liu and Xilin Xiao and Jianning Wang and Fanglue Jiao and Rui Wang and Xingyu Huang and Bixi Guo and Jia Sun and Rui Zhang and Yao Zhang and Kai Tang and Qiang Zheng and Farooq Azam and John Batt and Wei-Jun Cai and Chen He and Herndl, {Gerhard J.} and Paul Hill and Hutchins, {David A.} and Julie LaRoche and Marlon Lewis and Hugh MacIntyre and Luca Polimene and Carol Robinson and Quan Shi and Curtis Suttle and Helmuth Thomas and Douglas Wallace and Louis Legendre",

year = "2021",

month = apr,

day = "14",

doi = "10.1126/sciadv.abc7318",

language = "English",

volume = "7",

journal = "Science Advances",

issn = "2375-2548",

publisher = "American Association for the Advancement of Science",

number = "16",

}

Jiao, N, Liu, J, Edwards, B, Lv, Z, Cai, R, Liu, Y, Xiao, X, Wang, J, Jiao, F, Wang, R, Huang, X, Guo, B, Sun, J, Zhang, R, Zhang, Y, Tang, K, Zheng, Q, Azam, F, Batt, J, Cai, W-J, He, C, Herndl, GJ, Hill, P, Hutchins, DA, LaRoche, J, Lewis, M, MacIntyre, H, Polimene, L, Robinson, C, Shi, Q, Suttle, C, Thomas, H, Wallace, D & Legendre, L 2021, 'Correcting a major error in assessing organic carbon pollution in natural waters', Science Advances, vol. 7, no. 16, eabc7318. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abc7318

Correcting a major error in assessing organic carbon pollution in natural waters. / Jiao, Nianzhi; Liu, Jihua; Edwards, Bethanie ; Lv, Zongqing ; Cai, Ruanhong; Liu, Yongqin ; Xiao, Xilin ; Wang, Jianning ; Jiao, Fanglue ; Wang, Rui; Huang, Xingyu ; Guo, Bixi ; Sun, Jia ; Zhang, Rui; Zhang, Yao ; Tang, Kai; Zheng, Qiang; Azam, Farooq; Batt, John; Cai, Wei-Jun; He, Chen ; Herndl, Gerhard J.; Hill, Paul ; Hutchins, David A.; LaRoche, Julie; Lewis, Marlon ; MacIntyre, Hugh; Polimene, Luca; Robinson, Carol; Shi, Quan; Suttle, Curtis; Thomas, Helmuth; Wallace, Douglas; Legendre, Louis.

In: Science Advances, Vol. 7, No. 16, eabc7318, 14.04.2021.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

TY - JOUR

T1 - Correcting a major error in assessing organic carbon pollution in natural waters

AU - Jiao, Nianzhi

AU - Liu, Jihua

AU - Edwards, Bethanie

AU - Lv, Zongqing

AU - Cai, Ruanhong

AU - Liu, Yongqin

AU - Xiao, Xilin

AU - Wang, Jianning

AU - Jiao, Fanglue

AU - Wang, Rui

AU - Huang, Xingyu

AU - Guo, Bixi

AU - Sun, Jia

AU - Zhang, Rui

AU - Zhang, Yao

AU - Tang, Kai

AU - Zheng, Qiang

AU - Azam, Farooq

AU - Batt, John

AU - Cai, Wei-Jun

AU - He, Chen

AU - Herndl, Gerhard J.

AU - Hill, Paul

AU - Hutchins, David A.

AU - LaRoche, Julie

AU - Lewis, Marlon

AU - MacIntyre, Hugh

AU - Polimene, Luca

AU - Robinson, Carol

AU - Shi, Quan

AU - Suttle, Curtis

AU - Thomas, Helmuth

AU - Wallace, Douglas

AU - Legendre, Louis

PY - 2021/4/14

Y1 - 2021/4/14

N2 - Microbial degradation of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in aquatic environments can cause oxygen depletion, water acidification, and CO2 emissions. These problems are caused by labile DOC (LDOC) and not refractory DOC (RDOC) that resists degradation and is thus a carbon sink. For nearly a century, chemical oxygen demand (COD) has been widely used for assessment of organic pollution in aquatic systems. Here, we show through a multicountry survey and experimental studies that COD is not an appropriate proxy of microbial degradability of organic matter because it oxidizes both LDOC and RDOC, and the latter contributes up to 90% of DOC in high-latitude forested areas. Hence, COD measurements do not provide appropriate scientific information on organic pollution in natural waters and can mislead environmental policies. We propose the replacement of the COD method with an optode-based biological oxygen demand method to accurately and efficiently assess organic pollution in natural aquatic environments.

AB - Microbial degradation of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in aquatic environments can cause oxygen depletion, water acidification, and CO2 emissions. These problems are caused by labile DOC (LDOC) and not refractory DOC (RDOC) that resists degradation and is thus a carbon sink. For nearly a century, chemical oxygen demand (COD) has been widely used for assessment of organic pollution in aquatic systems. Here, we show through a multicountry survey and experimental studies that COD is not an appropriate proxy of microbial degradability of organic matter because it oxidizes both LDOC and RDOC, and the latter contributes up to 90% of DOC in high-latitude forested areas. Hence, COD measurements do not provide appropriate scientific information on organic pollution in natural waters and can mislead environmental policies. We propose the replacement of the COD method with an optode-based biological oxygen demand method to accurately and efficiently assess organic pollution in natural aquatic environments.

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U2 - 10.1126/sciadv.abc7318

DO - 10.1126/sciadv.abc7318

M3 - Article

VL - 7

JO - Science Advances

JF - Science Advances

SN - 2375-2548

IS - 16

M1 - eabc7318

ER -

Correcting a major error in assessing organic carbon pollution in natural waters

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