Critical Review -Long-range transport of organic chemicals in the environment.pdfVIP

Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, Vol. 28, No. 4, pp. 677–690, 2009 2009 SETAC Printed in the USA 0730-7268/09 $12.00 .00 Critical Review LONG-RANGE TRANSPORT OF ORGANIC CHEMICALS IN THE ENVIRONMENT MARTIN SCHERINGER* Institute for Chemical and Bioengineering, ETH Zu¨rich, CH-8093 Zu¨rich, Switzerland (Received 10 July 2008; Accepted 6 November 2008) Abstract—The long-range transport (LRT) of organic chemicals in the environment is reviewed, with particular focus on the role of environmental fate and transport models and the relationship between model results and field data. Results from generic multimedia box models, spatially resolved multimedia box models, and atmospheric transport models are highlighted, including conceptual investigations of cold-trap effect and global fractionation as well as results for particular chemicals, such as hexachlorocyclohexanes, DDT, polychlorinated biphenyls, perfluoroocctanoic acid, and polybrominated diphenyl ethers. Comparison of model results to field data shows that in many cases environmental fate models provide a good description of the distribution dynamics observed in the field, with deviations between measured and modeled concentrations around a factor of five. Sorption to atmospheric aerosols as