Effect of Acid Rain on Nitrate and Nitrite Concentrations in Soil and Water Samples.

Acid rain significantly  affects  the environment and organisms.   Undergraduate students conducted experiments  to evaluate the effect of  acid rain  on  nitrate and nitrite concentrations  in water and soil samples.   The pH of water samples were adjusted to induce an acidic environment.  As pH levels  increased  in water samples from acidic to neutral, the concentration of nitrate increased, whereas the concentration of nitrite decreased. A similar experiment  was conducted using soil samples which were first  dried and then saturated with solutions with  different pH levels.  The soil samples were subsequently kept at field capacity. Nitrate concentrations  showed an increasing trend when pH increased from acidic toward  the neutral pH.  Nitrite concentrations  did not change under the acidic  condition,  however showed a slight increase at neutral pH.  A correlative study is in progress to evaluate plant growth responses to acid rain.