Abstract
AbstractThis study aimed to assess whether benzalkonium chloride (BAC) addition to water samples could be used as a disinfectant in the radiocarbon (14C) analysis of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC). We investigated the effectiveness of BAC addition in inhibiting 14C changes in DIC due to microbial activity during water preservation. The DIC and 14C concentration of natural waters (groundwater, seawater, river water, and lake water) without BAC increased by 1.4–3.3 mg L−1 and 1.8–4.2 percent modern carbon (pMC) for 2 weeks, and 2.2–7.9 mg L−1 and 3.0–11.9 pMC for 4 weeks, respectively, while none of the BAC‐treated water samples, excluding seawater, exhibited changes in DIC or 14C concentration. Although slight increases in DIC and 14C concentrations in seawater with BAC treatment were observed, 0.4 mg L−1 and 0.4 pMC for 2 weeks, and 1.6 mg L−1 and 1.5 pMC for 4 weeks, respectively, these changes were 20–40% lower than that in seawater without BAC treatment. Furthermore, carbon contamination into the sample water due to BAC decomposition and BAC‐induced microorganism decomposition was negligible in 14C analysis, albeit using BAC solution without atmospheric CO2 contamination could be a significant issue. Our results demonstrate that BAC is an effective inhibitor of biological DIC changes for 14C analysis of freshwater samples, although slightly less effective in seawater
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