A level IV fugacity-based multimedia model based on steady-state particle/gas partitioning theory and its application to study the spatio-temporal trends of PBDEs in atmosphere of northeast China

Meng Qin; Wan-Li Ma; Pu-Fei Yang; Wen-Long Li; Lei Wang; Li-Li Shi; Li Li; Yi-Fan Li

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.168622

A level IV fugacity-based multimedia model based on steady-state particle/gas partitioning theory and its application to study the spatio-temporal trends of PBDEs in atmosphere of northeast China

Sci Total Environ. 2024 Jan 20:909:168622. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.168622. Epub 2023 Nov 16.

Authors

Meng Qin¹, Wan-Li Ma², Pu-Fei Yang¹, Wen-Long Li³, Lei Wang⁴, Li-Li Shi⁴, Li Li⁵, Yi-Fan Li⁶

Affiliations

¹ International Joint Research Center for Persistent Toxic Substances (IJRC-PTS), State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT), Harbin 150090, China; Heilongjiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Polar Environment and Ecosystem (HPKL-PEE), School of Environment, HIT, Harbin 150090, China.
² International Joint Research Center for Persistent Toxic Substances (IJRC-PTS), State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT), Harbin 150090, China; Heilongjiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Polar Environment and Ecosystem (HPKL-PEE), School of Environment, HIT, Harbin 150090, China. Electronic address: mawanli002@163.com.
³ Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health, Albany, NY 12201, USA.
⁴ Nanjing Institute of Environmental Sciences, Ministry of Ecology and Environmental, Nanjing 210042, China.
⁵ School of Public Health, University of Nevada, Reno, Reno, NV 89557, USA.
⁶ International Joint Research Center for Persistent Toxic Substances (IJRC-PTS), State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT), Harbin 150090, China; Heilongjiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Polar Environment and Ecosystem (HPKL-PEE), School of Environment, HIT, Harbin 150090, China; IJRC-PTS-NA, Toronto, Ontario M2J 3N8, Canada.

PMID: 37979874
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.168622

Abstract

Particle/gas (P/G) partitioning can significantly affect the environmental behavior of atmospheric pollutants. In this study, we established a large-scale level IV fugacity-based multimedia model (the S-L4MF Model) based on the steady-state P/G partitioning theory. The spatial and temporal trends with the atmospheric contamination of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in northeastern China under various climate conditions were simulated by the model. There is a reasonable agreement between the simulated and measured gaseous and particulate concentrations of 3 selected PBDE congeners (BDE-47, -99 and -209). For BDE-47, -99 and -209, 91.9 %, 94.8 % and 86.2 % of data points in the evaluation of the spatial trend, whereas 97.4 %, 98.2 % and 91.6 % of data points in the evaluation of the temporal trend, exhibit discrepancies between the modeled and measured data within 1 order of magnitude. The S-L4MF Model performed better than the other model with the same configuration but an equilibrium-state P/G partitioning assumption. The sensitivity and uncertainty analysis indicated that the air temperature and hexadecane-air partition coefficient were the dominant influencing factors on atmospheric concentrations. In addition, the model was successfully applied to study the inter-annual and seasonal variations of gaseous and particulate concentrations of the three PBDEs during 1971-2020 in Harbin, a northeastern Chinese city. Finally, we illustrated the potential to use the model to understand P/G partitioning behavior and the effects of snow and ice on atmospheric concentrations. In summary, the S-L4MF Model provided a powerful and effective tool for studying the environmental behavior of atmospheric organic pollutants, especially in cold regions.

Keywords: Cold region; Level IV fugacity-based multimedia model; PBDEs; Spatio-temporal trends; Steady-state particle/gas partitioning theory.