Rare nitrogen molecule could be key to better water quality testing

A recent study co-authored by University College Dublin's Dr Alan Seltzer has revealed a new method to improve water-quality assessments using a rare form of nitrogen gas. The research, published in the journal Science, highlights the potential of a rare nitrogen isotope, 15N15N, as a natural fingerprint for microbial nitrogen conversion.

This rare molecule can help determine the amount of nitrogen production in water, offering scientists a new tool to better understand the sources and fate of nitrogen in groundwater systems. By measuring the nitrogen gas extracted from water and sediment samples using UCLA's Panorama mass spectrometer, the team discovered that the rare molecule's abundance can reveal how much nitrogen gas was produced by microbial activity, ultimately helping to estimate global nitrogen budgets and mitigate nitrate pollution.

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