Forests effects on the environmental fates of organic pollutants in a tropical watershed

Abstract

Poly-brominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), dioxins, furans and current-use pesticides (CUPs) are common organic pollutants that have received global scrutiny due to their association with adverse environmental and health impacts. However, there is limited previous work assessing their environmental fates in the context of tropical multi-use watersheds. The aim of this study was to estimate the effect of forests on long-term environmental fate for some PBDEs, dioxins, furans and CUPs for a case study watershed of a tropical developing country (the Rio Cobre River drainage basin, Jamaica). Specifically, a dynamic, 16-compartment environmental multimedia model, RioShed, was developed and applied to calculate compartmental concentrations, as well as some long-term environmental fate metrics. Results indicate that the presence of tropical forests, especially those that are evergreen, reduced the atmospheric concentrations, atmospheric long-range transport potential, and the overall persistence of the study pollutants. Reductions in atmospheric concentrations by tropical forests were most enhanced for the more polar CUPs. Forest parameters that notably influenced soil concentration and/or overall persistence included the canopy drip parameter, the leaf area index and the wax erosion rate. The results of this research are expected to inform land-use and environmental management of the study area and similar tropical regions.

Keywords: Contaminant fate; Multimedia model; Persistence; Pesticides; Tropical forests.