Envlron. Sci. Technol. 1993, 27, 1572-1576
Aqueous Trivalent Chromium Photoproduction in Natural Waters Scott E. Kaczynskl and Robert J. Kleber' Department of Chemistry and Marine Science Program, University of North Carolina at Wilmington, Wilmington, North Carolina 28403-3297
Field studies indicate Cr(II1) is photochemically produced at two freshwater lakes in southeastern North Carolina. Results of controlled photolysis experiments with marine and estuarine samples suggestthis process may be common to many natural water systems. This photogeneration mechanism sheds new insight into the existence of the thermodynamically unstable Cr(II1) ion in oxygenated surface waters. Sixty-eight water samples from seven water bodies in the southeastern United States (fresh, estuarine, and marine) displayed a range of total aqueous inorganic chromium from
