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Pollutant-specific scale of multimedia models and its implications for the potential dose
1LCA-Laboratory, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim. hertwich@design.ntnu.no
Environmental Science & Technology
|May 16, 2001
Summary
This study introduces a new method to calculate the spatial range and atmospheric scale height for pollutants, improving environmental risk assessments. The findings show a strong correlation between spatial range and scale height, impacting human toxicity potential calculations.
Area of Science:
- Environmental Science
- Environmental Chemistry
- Risk Assessment
Background:
- The spatial range is crucial for multimedia environmental models, indicating pollutant travel distance and model area.
- Existing formulations for spatial range vary in their consideration of Earth's surface and transport mechanisms (advective vs. dispersive).
- Pollutant persistence and mobility (influenced by partitioning and travel speed) are key factors in all spatial range approaches.
Purpose of the Study:
- To extend the concept of pollutant-specific model scales by introducing a characteristic atmospheric scale height.
- To define a novel, comprehensive analytical formulation for spatial range based on advection-driven travel distance.
- To evaluate the spatial range and scale height for 288 chemicals across different release compartments (air, surface water, surface soil).
Main Methods:
- Developed a novel analytical formulation for spatial range, considering pollutant persistence and mobility.
- Introduced the concept of characteristic atmospheric scale height, accounting for deposition and degradation.
- Evaluated spatial range and scale height for 288 chemicals released to air, surface water, and surface soil.
Main Results:
- A strong correlation was found between the spatial range for air releases and the atmospheric scale height, both dependent on pollutant persistence.
- The product of model area and potential dose remained consistent whether using a fixed model area or the pollutant-specific spatial scale.
- The introduction of atmospheric scale height significantly altered potential dose calculations, by over an order of magnitude in some cases.
Conclusions:
- The novel spatial range formulation is more comprehensive and encompasses previous advection-based methods.
- Pollutant persistence is a critical factor influencing both spatial range and atmospheric scale height for air releases.
- The atmospheric scale height is a valuable addition for refining environmental risk assessments, particularly for human toxicity potential.