Department of Applied Environmental Science, Stockholm University, SE 106 91 Stockholm, Sweden.
Chemosphere. 2014 Jan;95:301-9. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2013.08.097. Epub 2013 Oct 5.
The persistence of chemicals in the environment is rarely measured in the field due to a paucity of suitable methods. Here we explore the potential of chemical benchmarking to facilitate the measurement of persistence in lake systems using a multimedia chemical fate model. The model results show that persistence in a lake can be assessed by quantifying the ratio of test chemical and benchmark chemical at as few as two locations: the point of emission and the outlet of the lake. Appropriate selection of benchmark chemicals also allows pseudo-first-order rate constants for physical removal processes such as volatilization and sediment burial to be quantified. We use the model to explore how the maximum persistence that can be measured in a particular lake depends on the partitioning properties of the test chemical of interest and the characteristics of the lake. Our model experiments demonstrate that combining benchmarking techniques with good experimental design and sensitive environmental analytical chemistry may open new opportunities for quantifying chemical persistence, particularly for relatively slowly degradable chemicals for which current methods do not perform well.
由于缺乏合适的方法，化学物质在环境中的持久性很少在现场进行测量。在这里，我们探索了化学基准测试的潜力，以利用多介质化学命运模型来促进湖泊系统中持久性的测量。模型结果表明，可以通过在两个地点（排放点和湖泊出口）量化测试化学物质和基准化学物质的比例来评估湖泊中的持久性。适当选择基准化学物质还可以量化物理去除过程（如挥发和沉积物埋藏）的拟一级速率常数。我们使用该模型来探讨在特定湖泊中可以测量的最大持久性如何取决于感兴趣的测试化学物质的分配性质和湖泊的特征。我们的模型实验表明，将基准测试技术与良好的实验设计和敏感的环境分析化学相结合，可能为量化化学持久性开辟新的机会，特别是对于当前方法表现不佳的相对缓慢降解的化学物质。
