Approach to modelling vegetation yield reduction from point-source emissions of sulfur dioxide

During the past decade, a great amount of research has been directed toward understanding the dose-response effects of gases emitted from industrial sources on vegetation. The results of this research, while still far from complete, can be translated into predictive models that will give estimates of damage to vegetation in terms of decreased yields and the amount of geographic areas exposed. This paper presents one such model, developed at Argonne National Laboratory, which examines the possible SO/sub 2/-induced reduction in soybean yield located in the vicinity of a coal-fired power plant. Two hypothetical 1000-MW power plants located in Greensboro, NC were modeled using this technique, one with an emission rate of 1500 g/s and the other with a rate of 2250 g/s. Integrated SO/sub 2/ exposures were calculated to simulate reported dose-response data for soybeans. The results show that there was an insufficient dosage to cause detectable chronically induced yield reduction for the low emission case but a 7 to 8% reduction in yield was estimated for the high case. The total area which would experience a yield reduction of 5% or more was estimated to be about 1000 acres for the high-emission-rate case.