WATER-SOLUBLE PRIMARY AMINE COMPOUNDS IN RURAL CONTINENTAL PRECIPITATION

Procedures for collecting, storing and analysing precipitation samples for organic nitrogen studies were developed. These procedures preserve chemical integrities of the species of interest, allow for up to 3 months storage and quantitative determination of water-soluble primary amine compounds, with the overall error at the 2 nM detection limit of less than 30%. This methodology was applied to study amino compounds in precipitation samples collected over a period of one year in central Virginia. Nitrogen concentrations of 13 amino acids and 3 aliphatic amines were summed to calculate the total amine nitrogen (TAN). The concentration of TAN ranged from below our detection level to 6658 nM, and possibly reflected a seasonal variation in the source strength of the atmospheric amines. Overall, the most commonly occurring amino compounds were methyl amine, ethyl amine, glutamic acid, glycine and serine. On average, the highest overall contribution to the TAN came from arginine, asparagine. glutamine, methyl amine, serine and alanine. However, large qualitative and quantitative variations observed among samples warrant caution in interpretation and application of the averaged values. TAN in Charlottesville precipitation contributed from less than 1 to ca 10% of the ammonium nitrogen level. However, our estimates show that amino compounds may contribute significantly to reduced nitrogen budget in precipitation in remote regions.