Bromine accumulations in pine trees growing around bromine production plants

Soil and pine foliage samples were collected from 92 plots located around five bromine production plants in union and Columbia Counties, Arkansas, during January-February 1977. Analysis of pine tissues for the major salt components of brine showed that bromine was the only component accumulating in these tissues and that the amount of bromine decreases exponentially with the distance from the emission sources. Bromine content in plots closest to the sources ranged from 170-550 ppM in 1-year-old needles and from 140-1000 ppM in 2-year-old needles. Some visible injury was evident in trees growing closer than 0.48 km from the sources, but tissues with bromine contents of 800 to 1000 ppM from the closest plots exhibited no visible injury. Bromine did not accumulate in organic litter or in the soil.