Environmental Multimedia Modeling of Chemical Transport

Environmental management is becoming increasingly dependent on quantitative analysis of environmental and health risks associated with exposure to chemical contaminants. Exposure to chemical pollutants can occur via primary pathways (e.g., inhalation of polluted air or drinking contaminated water) and/or secondary pathways (e.g., ingestion of contaminated food) and therefore requires information on chemical distribution in the environment. The distribution of chemicals in the multimedia environment is the consequence of complex physical, chemical, and biological processes. For example, a chemical that is released to the atmosphere can be deposited onto vegetation, soil, and surface water by both dry and wet deposition. Multimedia field monitoring of all chemicals of concern is not feasible. Therefore, multimedia models of pollutant fate and transport are attractive tools for assessing the potential for multimedia impact of chemical pollutants.