Abstract
To counter the claim that all biotreated organochlorine (AOX) emissions from modern kraft mills are unnatural and inherently hazardous, it has been argued that over 2400 different AOX compounds are now known to be produced by living organisms. This is an invalid rationale. These 2400 natural compounds are mostly specific halometabolites — each is produced as a large number of identical molecules by a specific enzyme-mediated mechanism. In contrast, in a kraft mill bleachery, heterogeneous wood derivatives are non-specifically chlorinated by hypochlorous acid (HOCl) or hypochlorite ion (OCl-) to produce mixtures containing hundreds of different AOX species. It is therefore much more reasonable to compare mill-derived AOX to other human and natural sources of OCl-/HOCl-generated non-specific AOX.
Chloroperoxidase (CPO)-type enzymes naturally produce HOCl and OCl-from common chloride ions and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). They have now been demonstrated in bacteria, fungi, algae, lichens, higher plants and animals. We demonstrate that a common fungal CPO can, when applied to soil extracts, lignins, cellulosics, tannins and natural lake water organics, rapidly generate nonspecific AOX.
In agreement with earlier work done in other geographic areas, AOX was found in all of a wide range of samples from the Montreal region, both from urban and relatively remote pristine lakes and woodlands. Much of it is almost certainly produced via nonspecific HOCl/OCl- chlorination.
Finally, we demonstrate that nonspecific AOX is produced by a CPO in mammalian blood as the natural result of the body's immune system fighting infections. Thus, HOCl/OCl- based production of AOX from mixtures of organic molecules is seen to be a common occurrence in nature as well as a product of human technology.
Chlorine and its importance in the inactivation of bacteria, can it inactivate viruses?
