Evaluating Chemical Persistence in a Multimedia Environment: ACART Analysis
For the thousands of chemicals continuously released into the environment, it is desirable to make prospective assessments of those likely to be persistent. Persistent chemicals are difficult to remove if adverse health or ecological effects are later discovered. A tiered approach using a classification scheme and a multimedia model for determining persistence is presented. Using specific criteria for persistence, a classification tree is developed to classify a chemical as ''persistent'' or ''non-persistent'' based on the chemical properties. In this approach, the classification is derived from the results of a standardized unit world multimedia model. Thus, the classifications are more robust for multimedia pollutants than classifications using a single medium half-life. The method can be readily implemented and provides insight without requiring extensive and often unavailable data. This method can be used to classify chemicals when only a few properties are known and be used to direct further data collection. Case studies are presented to demonstrate the advantages of the approach.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- EPA National Exposure Research Laboratory through Interagency Agreement DW-988-38190-01-0 (US)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC03-76SF00098
- OSTI ID:
- 7370
- Report Number(s):
- LBNL-42897; TRN: US200305%%777
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: Supercedes report DE00007370; PBD: 1 Feb 1999; PBD: 1 Feb 1999
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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