ELPOS -
Criteria for Persistence and Long-range Transport Potential of Pesticides and Industrial Chemicals
Andreas Beyer, Michael Matthies
The Project
The ELPOS-Model
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Project Description
This project runs since October 1999 and is financed by the
German Federal Environmental Agency (FEA), Berlin.
The project's aim is to develop and investigate quantitative
criteria for the long-range transport potential and persistence of organic chemicals.
The multimedia chemical fate model ELPOS-1.0 was used to calculate the overall persistence and the
characteristic travel distance in air as descriptors for the criteria.
Both descriptors account for the intermedia
transfer and intramedia degradation and are independent of the amount emitted.
Physical-chemical and environmental degradation data of 65 current-use pesticides, 23
industrial chemicals and 21 persistent organic pollutants were compiled.
A sensitivity analysis shows that the sensitivity heavily depends on the characteristics
of the chemicals as well as assumptions with respect to environmental conditions. The
ranking of the chemicals can be affected if uncertainty of the parameters is taken into
account, e.g. by using 90th-percentiles instead of mean values.
The model was modified to account for temperature variations within a range of 5° to 30°C.
The overall residence time as well as the characteristic travel distance are highly dependent
on temperature. While the overall residence time always increases when temperature drops,
the characteristic travel distance can increase or decrease depending on the characteristics
of the substance.
The characteristic travel distance was compared to observed spatial concentration gradients
in the environment. Monitoring data on different PCB-congeners that were sampled along a
south-north transect lead to the same chemical ranking as predicted by the characteristic
travel distance.
Acknowledging the uncertainty and limitations of the underlying multimedia model the overall
residence time and the characteristic travel distance can serve for screening, ranking,
and evaluation of substances concerning persistence and long-range transport potential. The
assessment of the current-use pesticides identified candidates requiring further investigation
and possibly management. Two pesticides (dicofol and chlorothalonil) are evaluated more in
depth, assessing the applicability of model assumptions and the impact of uncertain
degradation rates on the outcome.
With ELPOS the user can
Download the ELPOS-Model
© Institute for Environmental Systems Research, 2001-2002
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The ELPOS-Model
ELPOS is the Environmental Long-range Transport and Persistence of
Organic Substances Model.
The model is entirely spreadsheet based. This makes the model completely open - every equation can
be inspected by the user.
The program is easy to use and it provides several features
for the interpretation of substance data with respect to the criteria persistence and long-range
transport. ELPOS calculates the overall persistence and characteristic travel distance in air and
water in level III or level II mode. In addition it calculates a range of other helpful quantities
aiding the understanding of chemical fate. Examples are the stickiness or mass fractions in the
environmental compartments.
The model is based on the regional part of EUSES-SimpleBox. Compartments included in the model are
The data of 100 persistent organic pollutants and current-use pesticides are already included in ELPOS.
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Related Projects at the
USF
Publications Related to this Project
Selecting Internally Consistent Physical-chemical Properties of Organic Compounds.
Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 21, 941-953
Long-Range Transport Potential of Semivolatile Organic
Chemicals in Coupled Air-Water Systems.
Environmental Science and Pollution Research
8, 173-179.
Criteria for Atmospheric Transport Potential and Persistence of Pesticides and Industrial Chemicals.
Final Report,
German Federal Environmental Agency, Berlin, Germany.
Comparing Representations of the Environmental Spatial Scale of Organic Chemicals.
Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry
20, 922-927.
Defining the Bioaccumulation, Persistence, and Transport Attributes
of Priority Chemicals. In "Persistent, bioaccumulative, and Toxic Chemicals II." R.L. Lipnick, B. Janson, D. Mackay, M. Petreas (eds.),
ACS Washington, DC.
Long-Range Transport in the Environment - Editorial for Special Issue of ESPR
Environmental Science and Pollution Research
8, 149.
The Spatial Scale of Organic Chemicals in Multimedia Fate Modeling (Review Article)
Environmental Science and Pollution Research
8, 150-155.
Assessing Long-Range Transport Potential of Persistent Organic Pollutants.
Environmental
Science & Technology 34, 699-703.
Atmospheric long-range transport and persistence of multiphase partitioned, organic compounds.
Conference proceedings of the 4th Italian-German Workshop on Tropospheric Chemistry,
2000 in Marienthal.
Long-Range Transport Potential of PCB and PCDD/F and their Classification.
Conference Proceedings DIOXINE 1999, Organohalogen Compounds 41, 347-351.
General formulation of characteristic travel distance for semi-volatile organic chemicals in a multi-media environment.
Environmental
Science & Technology 32, 4023-4030.
E-Mail: abeyer@usf.Uni-Osnabrueck.DE