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Production of acetaldehyde from ethanol in coastal waters

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Abstract

Interest in understanding the cycling of ethanol in the environment has grown as ethanol use as a gasoline additive has increased. The production of acetaldehyde from ethanol was measured in Southern California coastal seawater. The rate of increase of acetaldehyde was positively correlated with the rate constant for ethanol biodegradation and bacteria count and was consistent with two consecutive first-order reactions where acetaldehyde is first biologically produced from ethanol then consumed. Correlation with bacteria counts suggested that acetaldehyde degradation was also a biological process. The rate constants for acetaldehyde production from ethanol and acetaldehyde loss averaged 3.0 ± 3.4 × 10−3 min−1 and 2.3 ± 4.5 × 10−2 min−1 respectively. The branching ratio for acetaldehyde production from ethanol was 0.46 ± 0.26 and estimated acetaldehyde biological production rates ranged from 0.022 to 0.800 nM min−1. With high bacterial counts, biological production rates from ethanol exceeded photochemical production rates from chromophoric dissolved organic matter. Overall, acetaldehyde production rates were larger than biodegradation rates, suggesting these waters are a source of acetaldehyde to the atmosphere. Extrapolation to higher ethanol concentrations associated with spills suggests that the production rate of acetaldehyde will initially increase and then decrease as ethanol concentrations increase.

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Funding

Funding for this work was provided by the National Science Foundation (OCE # 1233091; CHE #1337396).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Schmid College of Science and Technology, Chapman University, One University Drive, Orange, CA, 92866, USA

    Warren J. de Bruyn & Mary Senstad

  2. Department of Chemistry, Western Washington University, 516 High Street, Bellingham, WA, 98229, USA

    Catherine D. Clark

Authors
  1. Warren J. de Bruyn
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  2. Catherine D. Clark
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  3. Mary Senstad
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Correspondence to Warren J. de Bruyn.

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Responsible editor: Vedula VSS Sarma

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de Bruyn, W.J., Clark, C.D. & Senstad, M. Production of acetaldehyde from ethanol in coastal waters. Environ Sci Pollut Res 27, 12673–12682 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-07880-8

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