Perchlorate behavior in the context of black carbon and metal cogeneration following fireworks emission at Oak Lake, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA

Abstract

The imprints of fireworks displays on the adjacent water body were investigated from the perspective of cogeneration of black carbon, metals and perchlorate (ClO4−). In particular, the mixing and dissipation of ClO4− were studied at Oak Lake, Lincoln, Nebraska, following fireworks displays in 2015 and 2016. Following the display, ClO4− concentration in the water increased up to 4.3 μg/L and 4.0 μg/L in 2015 and 2016, respectively. A first-order model generally provided a good fit to the measured perchlorate concentrations from which the rate of dissipation was estimated as 0.07 d−1 in 2015 and 0.43 d−1 in 2016. SEM images show imprints of soot and metal particles in aerosol samples. EDS analysis of the lake sediment confirmed the presence of Si, K, Ca, Zn and Ba, most of which are components of fireworks. The δ13C range of −7.55‰ to −9.19‰ in the lake water system closely resembles fire-generated carbon. Cogeneration of black carbon and metal with perchlorate was established, indicating that ClO4− is an excellent marker of fireworks or a burning event over all other analyzed parameters. Future microcosmic, aggregation and column-based transport studies on black carbon in the presence of perchlorate and metals under different environmental conditions will help in developing transport and fate models for perchlorate and black carbon particles.