Distribution of dissolved organic carbon and metal-binding capacity among ultrafilterable fractions isolated from selected surface waters of the southeastern United States

The binding capacities of surface waters for Cd, Cu, and Pb were determined for eight water samples representing four rivers and two swamps from Florida and Georgia in the southeastern United States The binding capacity ranges were CdBC=0 04 to 0 79 μg atm/L, CuBC=1 0 to 5 4 μg atm/L, and PbBC=5 0 to 17 8 μg atm/L Binding capacity values from the southeastern United States are shown to be in good agreement with values reported from the northeastern part of the country and northern Europe The CdBC was due primarily to inorganic ligand binding, while PbBC was predominantly a result of organic matter The CuBC was due to a complex function of both organic and inorganic binding Significant portions of the CuBC and PbBC could be removed from the waters by ultrafiltration of particles between 0·45 μm and 52 Å in diameter Ultrafiltration, even to removing particles > 13 Å diameter, did not affect the CdBC Distributional studies of the dissolved organic carbon in these systems reveal that significant fractions of the DOC are present in the ultrafilterable fraction which contains significant portions of the CuBC and PbBC