Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID 2004SD19B

Evaluating Glomalin and Its Role in the Sorption of Organic Contaminants

Institute: South Dakota
Year Established: 2004 Start Date: 2004-03-01 End Date: 2006-02-28
Total Federal Funds: $49,806 Total Non-Federal Funds: $99,728

Principal Investigators: Frank Schindler, James Rice

Project Summary: South Dakota relies heavily on ground water resources to fulfill its domestic needs. Petroleum compounds such as benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene (BTEX) have been implicated as significant sources of ground water contamination in South Dakota. Soil organic matter (SOM) has the ability to remove (sorb) potentially hazardous organic chemicals that have been introduced, either deliberately or inadvertently, into the environment. Glomalin, a glycoprotein in SOM, is noted for its ameliorative effects on soil structure; however, its molecular character and sorptive capacity for organic contaminants are unknown. Through a series of sorption experiments, and solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance and various chemical analyses, insight into glomalins molecular and sorptive character will be realized. The objectives of this study are to 1) evaluate the role of glomalin and its fractions in the sorption of hydrophobic organic contaminants, and 2) elucidate a molecular understanding of glomalin through its extraction, fractionation, and characterization. Glomalin may prove to be a very useful index in predicting the fate of organic contaminates introduced into the environment.