Scientists at Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest LTER site in New Hampshire and the Institute of Ecosystem Studies in New York initiated a cross-site investigation to examine the adsorption of trifluoroacetate (TFA) in soils from LTER sites. Trifluoroacetate is an important breakdown product of the chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) replacement chemicals hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). As a result of the phaseout of CFCs required under the 1990 London amendments to the 1987 Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, it is expected that CFCs will be replaced by HCFCs and HFCs. Trifluoroacetate will be produced in the atmosphere and transported via precipitation to the Earth's surface. Preliminary laboratory studies have suggested that TFA does not adsorb to soil and that atmospheric deposition of TFA to the terrestrial environment may be conservatively transported within the aqueous phase.

Representative soils were obtained from 14 LTER sites and batch adsorption experiments were conducted to assess the retention of TFA in soil by abiotic processes and to determine the role that various soil characteristics have in regulating TFA adsorption.

Publications:

Ritchey, D.G., C.T. Driscoll, and G.E. Likens. 1997. Soil Retention of Trifluoroacetate. Environmental Science & Technology (31)1723-1727.

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For more information:
Charles Driscoll
cdriscoll@lternet.edu
315/443-3434