Publication Date:
2022-05-25
Description:
Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2018. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here under a nonexclusive, irrevocable, paid-up, worldwide license granted to WHOI. It is made available for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Environmental Science and Technology 52 (2018): 6771-6779, doi:10.1021/acs.est.7b05703.
Description:
Phosphorus loads are strongly associated with the severity of harmful algal blooms in Lake Erie,
a Great Lake situated between the United States and Canada. Inorganic and total phosphorus
measurements have historically been used to estimate nonpoint and point source contributions,
from contributing watersheds with organic phosphorus often neglected. Here, we used ultrahigh
resolution mass spectrometry to characterize the dissolved organic matter and specifically
dissolved organic phosphorus composition of several nutrient pollutant source materials and
aqueous samples in a Lake Erie tributary. We detected between 23-313 organic phosphorus
formulae across our samples, with manure samples having greater abundance of phosphorus- and
nitrogen containing compounds compared to other samples. Manures also were enriched in lipids
and protein-like compounds. The greatest similarities were observed between the Sandusky
River and wastewater treatment plant effluent (WWTP), or the Sandusky River and agricultural
edge of field samples. These sample pairs shared 84% of organic compounds and 59 to 73% of
P-containing organic compounds, respectively. This similarity suggests that agricultural and/or
WWTP sources dominate the supply of organic phosphorus compounds to the river. We identify
formulae shared between the river and pollutant sources that could serve as possible markers of
source contamination in the tributary.
Description:
This research was supported by an Ohio State University Field to Faucet Institute award to P.J.M
and by a Harmful Algal Bloom Research Initiative grant from the Ohio Department of Higher
Education.
Keywords:
Phosphorus
;
Great Lakes
;
Agriculture
;
Mass spectrometry
;
Harmful algal blooms
Repository Name:
Woods Hole Open Access Server
Type:
Preprint
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