CO2 produced as a waste product of the oxidation of sugars in the mitochondria reacts with water in a reaction catalyzed by carbonic anhydrase to form H2CO3, which is in equilibrium with the cation H+ and anion HCO3−. It is then carried to the lung, where the reverse reaction occurs and CO2 gas is released. In the kidney (left), cells (green) lining the proximal tubule conserve bicarbonate by transporting it from the glomerular filtrate in the lumen (yellow) of the nephron back into the blood (red). The exact stoichiometry in the kidney is omitted for simplicity.
With carbonic acid as the central intermediatespecies, bicarbonate – in conjunction with water, hydrogen ions, and carbon dioxide – forms this buffering system, which is maintained at the volatile equilibrium[3] required to provide prompt resistance to pH changes in both the acidic and basic directions. This is especially important for protecting tissues of the central nervous system, where pH changes too far outside of the normal range in either direction could prove disastrous (see acidosis or alkalosis). Recently it has been also demonstrated that cellular bicarbonate metabolism can be regulated by mTORC1 signaling.[7]
Additionally, bicarbonate plays a key role in the digestive system. It raises the internal pH of the stomach, after highly acidic digestive juices have finished in their digestion of food. Bicarbonate also acts to regulate pH in the small intestine. It is released from the pancreas in response to the hormone secretin to neutralize the acidic chyme entering the duodenum from the stomach.[8]
Some plants like Chara utilize carbonate and produce calcium carbonate (CaCO3) as result of biological metabolism.[10]
In freshwater ecology, strong photosynthetic activity by freshwater plants in daylight releases gaseous oxygen into the water and at the same time produces bicarbonate ions. These shift the pH upward until in certain circumstances the degree of alkalinity can become toxic to some organisms or can make other chemical constituents such as ammonia toxic. In darkness, when no photosynthesis occurs, respiration processes release carbon dioxide, and no new bicarbonate ions are produced, resulting in a rapid fall in pH.[citation needed]
The flow of bicarbonate ions from rocks weathered by the carbonic acid in rainwater is an important part of the carbon cycle.
The parameter standard bicarbonate concentration (SBCe) is the bicarbonate concentration in the blood at a PaCO2 of 40 mmHg (5.33 kPa), full oxygen saturation and 36 °C.[11]
^ ab"hydrogencarbonate (CHEBI:17544)". Chemical Entities of Biological Interest (ChEBI). UK: European Institute of Bioinformatics. IUPAC Names. Archived from the original on 7 June 2015.
^William Hyde Wollaston (1814) "A synoptic scale of chemical equivalents", Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, 104: 1-22. On page 11, Wollaston coins the term "bicarbonate": "The next question that occurs relates to the composition of this crystallized carbonate of potash, which I am induced to call bi-carbonate of potash, for the purpose of marking more decidedly the distinction between this salt and that which is commonly called a subcarbonate, and in order to refer at once to the double dose of carbonic acid contained in it."
^Geor, Raymond J.; Coenen, Manfred; Harris, Pat (31 January 2013). Equine Applied and Clinical Nutrition: Health, Welfare and Performance. Elsevier Health Sciences. p. 90. ISBN978-0-7020-5418-1. The most common indicator of water quality is the concentration of total dissolved solids (TDS)
