Multimedia model for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and nitro-PAHs in Lake Michigan.

ABSTRACT: Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) contamination in the U.S. Great Lakes has long been of concern, but information regarding the current sources, distribution, and fate of PAH contamination is lacking, and very little information exists for the potentially more toxic nitro-derivatives of PAHs (NPAHs). This study uses fugacity, food web, and Monte Carlo models to examine 16 PAHs and five NPAHs in Lake Michigan, and to derive PAH and NPAH emission estimates. Good agreement was found between predicted and measured PAH concentrations in air, but concentrations in water and sediment were generally under-predicted, possibly due to incorrect parameter estimates for degradation rates, discharges to water, or inputs from tributaries. The food web model matched measurements of heavier PAHs (≥5 ri

SUBMITTER: Huang L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4255657 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature