Environmental Dynamic Model of Chemicals for Risk Evaluation

Abstract

In order to estimate the amount of a chemical that humans take in from the environment, one must model environmental pathways leading from the source of the chemical to humans and assess exposure to representative human populations that accounts for the rate at which the body can absorb the chemical. While such models are assessed on various temporal and spatial scales, a watershed (drainage basin) in association with its corresponding air and soil is a suitable spatial scale. Furthermore, the precision of the model must be best suited for its intended use and other considerations, and uncertainty associated with the estimated results must be evaluated. Moreover, a simple multimedia model implemented using a fugacity model and systems analysis model with conventional environmental compartments demonstrated that fugacity models are advantageous in that they are essentially the same as common systems analysis models and make nonequilibrium conditions readily apparent.