Modeling the Atmospheric Transport and Deposition of PCDD/F to the Great Lakes

Item

Title
Modeling the Atmospheric Transport and Deposition of PCDD/F to the Great Lakes
Description
Atmospheric deposition is a significant loading pathway for polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (dioxin) to the Great Lakes. An innovative approach using NOAA's HYSPLIT atmospheric fate and transport model was developed to estimate the 1996 dioxin contribution to each lake from each of 5700 point sources and 42 600 area sources in a U.S./Canadian air emissions inventory. These unusually detailed source-receptor modeling results show that deposition to each lake arises from a broad geographical region, with significant contributions from up to 2000 km away. The source categories contributing most significantly to 1996 dioxin deposition appear to be municipal waste incineration, iron sintering, medical waste incineration, and cement kilns burning hazardous waste. Model-predicted air concentrations and deposition fluxes were consistent with ambient measurement data, within the uncertainties in each, but there may be a moderate tendency toward underestimation using midrange emissions estimates. The most likely reason for this tendency appears to be missing or underestimated emissions sources, but in-situ atmospheric formation of octachlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxin (OCDD) and heptachlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxin (HpCDD) may have also contributed. Despite uncertainties, the findings regarding the relative importance of different sources types and source regions appear to be relatively robust and may be useful in prioritizing pollution prevention efforts.
Version of Record
Creator
Cohen, Mark D.
Draxler, Roland R.
Artz, Richard
Commoner, Barry
Bartlett, Paul
Cooney, Paul
Couchot, Kim
Dickar, Alan
Eisl, Holger
Hill, Catherine
Quigley, James
Klein-Rosenthal, Joyce Ellen
Niemi, David
Ratté, Dominique
Deslauriers, Marc
Laurin, Rachelle
Mathewson-Brake, Larissa
McDonald, John
Date
2015-07-17T14:13:01Z
2002
Type
Journal Article
Format
application/pdf
Identifier
Cohen, Mark D., Roland R. Draxler, Richard Artz, Barry Commoner, Paul Bartlett, Paul Cooney, Kim Couchot, et al. 2002. Modeling the Atmospheric Transport and Deposition of PCDD/F to the Great Lakes. Environmental Science & Technology 36, no. 22: 4831–4845.
0013-936X
1520-5851
http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:17462972
10.1021/es0157292
Language
en_US
Relation
doi:10.1021/es0157292
http://www.arl.noaa.gov/documents/reports/es0157292_final.pdf
www.researchgate.net/profile/Richard_Artz/publication/10986914_Modeling_the_atmospheric_transport_and_deposition_of_PCDDF_to_the_Great_Lakes/file/79e4150f732b444130.pdf
Environmental Science & Technology