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OLD SCIENCE Science is working to gain a more complete understanding of the chemical and biochemical interaction of biologically active bodies of water, manure pits, sewage lagoons, and decomposing wastes. Biochemists and researchers have sought to identify chemical interactions that occur in these areas. These complex biochemical processes create practical and environmental problems that can be solved as we research and more clearly understand the interactions at the subatomic level. This specifically applies to the use of copper to control micro-organisms. NEW SCIENCE Current scientific evidence suggests that the toxic concentrations of copper depend on a number of factors, including the form of copper used, the specific organism to be controlled and the characteristics of the substrate, including its chemical composition. The specific complexes that copper will form when dissolved in water in more complex substrates, such as liquid animal wastes, can now be accurately predicted. It has been proven thru buffered acidulation that the complexes of copper that are most toxic to bacteria are those formed by weak-field monodentate ligands1, while the monodentate and polydentate complexes, which are less stable, are found to be less toxic. Therefore it is the form and availability in solution of copper that determines toxicity, not just the presence and concentration of copper alone. 1 Ligand is an atom or group of atoms capable of donating a pair of electrons to form a covalent bond. |
