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Science 1 March 1991:
Vol. 251. no. 4997, pp. 1056 - 1058
DOI: 10.1126/science.251.4997.1056
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Articles

Evidence for a Phytotoxic Hydroxy-Aluminum Polymer in Organic Soil Horizons

DOUGLAS HUNTER 1 and DONALD S. ROSS 1

1 Department of Botany, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05405

The toxicity of A1 that has been mobilized in soil, streams, and lakes through acid deposition primarily has been attributed to mononuclear A1 species. Polynuclear A1 species are more toxic than mononuclear species, but they have not been considered to be significant in the environment. Aluminum-27 nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra of forested spodosol soil horizon samples show the presence of polynuclear A1O4A112(OH)24(H2O)127+. The AlO4A112(OH)24(H2O)127+ species accounted for 30 percent of the aqueous A1 observable by NMR, and this could make a significant contribution to the toxicity of the A1 in these soils.

Submitted on September 21, 1990
Accepted on December 27, 1990


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