Simulation of the transfer and fate of HCHs since the 1950s in Lanzhou, China

Ecotoxicol Environ Saf. 2009 Oct;72(7):1950-6. doi: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2009.04.009. Epub 2009 May 23.

Abstract

A level IV fugacity model is described and illustrated by application to the fate of alpha-, beta-, gamma-, and delta-hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) in the Lanzhou area over a 60-year period from their introduction into the agricultural field until 2019. The established model is successfully applied to simulate the transfer processes and the concentration distribution of HCHs under non-steady-state assumptions in four environmental compartments in the Lanzhou area: soil, air, water, and sediment. Furthermore, the calculated results agree well with monitoring data from the literature in the same period of time. We assume that 40% of the total use of HCHs isomers enters into the air and 60% enters the soil. The results indicate that the main source of HCHs in the area is agricultural applications; the biggest bulk sink is soil (accounting for 99.6% of total amount in the environment). Among all the transfer processes, the deposition and the diffusion at the air-soil and air-water interfaces are the primary processes, and degradation in soil and air is the key process of HCH disappearance.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Agriculture
  • China
  • Computer Simulation
  • Environmental Monitoring*
  • Environmental Pollutants / analysis*
  • Environmental Pollutants / chemistry
  • Hexachlorocyclohexane / analysis*
  • Hexachlorocyclohexane / chemistry
  • Isomerism
  • Models, Chemical*

Substances

  • Environmental Pollutants
  • Hexachlorocyclohexane