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Assessing the Relative Importance of Spatial Variability in Emissions Versus Landscape Properties in Fate Models for Environmental Exposure Assessment of Chemicals

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Abstract

Multimedia mass balance models differ in their treatment of spatial resolution from single boxes representing an entire region to multiple interconnected boxes with varying landscape properties and emission intensities. Here, model experiments were conducted to determine the relative importance of these two main factors that cause spatial variation in environmental chemical concentrations: spatial patterns in emission intensities and spatial differences in environmental conditions. In the model, experiments emissions were always to the air compartment. It was concluded that variation in emissions is in most cases the dominant source of variation in environmental concentrations. It was found, however, that variability in environmental conditions can strongly influence predicted concentrations in some cases, if the receptor compartments of interest are soil or water—for water concentrations particularly if a chemical has a high octanol–air partition coefficient (K oa). This information will help to determine the required level of spatial detail that suffices for a specific regulatory purpose.

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Acknowledgments

This work was funded by the Integrated European Research Project, NoMiracle (NOvel Methods for Integrated Risk Assessment of CumuLative stressors in Europe) through the European Commission’s Sixth Framework Programme (FP6 Contracts no. 003956).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Science, Institute for Wetland and Water Research (IWWR), Radboud University Nijmegen, PO Box 9010, 6500 GL, Nijmegen, The Netherlands

    A. Hollander, M. Hauck, M. A. J. Huijbregts, A. M. J. Ragas & D. van de Meent

  2. Department of Applied Environmental Science (ITM), Stockholm University, 106 91, Stockholm, Sweden

    I. T. Cousins

  3. Università di Trento, GECOsistema srl, 47023, Cesena, FC, Italy

    A. Pistocchi

  4. Laboratory of Ecological Risk Assessment, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), PO Box 1, 3720 BA, Bilthoven, The Netherlands

    D. van de Meent

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  1. A. Hollander
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Correspondence to A. Hollander.

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Hollander, A., Hauck, M., Cousins, I.T. et al. Assessing the Relative Importance of Spatial Variability in Emissions Versus Landscape Properties in Fate Models for Environmental Exposure Assessment of Chemicals. Environ Model Assess 17, 577–587 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10666-012-9315-5

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