Effects and Fates of Hazardous Chemicals Released to the Environment - Module 1

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Basic Concepts of Chemical Fate and Transport

This module reviews some of the basic concepts needed for evaluating the transport and fate of spilled chemicals in the environment. The following modules present additional processes applicable to specific water and atmospheric environments, while the last modules present general information for predicting movement of many classes of chemicals, case studies of some commonly lost hazardous materials, and the long-term effects of chemical spills on affected communities.

Mass balances are covered in the first lecture of this module, including an illustration of how this was used at a CSO discharge location in Brooklyn, NY. Advective transport and molecular diffusion, along with a description of kinetics and equilibrium, are presented in the second lecture. Partitioning of spilled chemicals among the different environmental compartments is described in the third lecture, while fugacity concepts are presented in more depth in the last lecture of this module.

Mass Balance Presentation

Transport of Chemicals, Kinetics and Equilibrium

Chemical Distribution Among Phases

Fugacity

Free Energy Table

Fig 1.7 Mackay et al. 1992

Fig 1.8 Mackay et al. 1992

Fig 1.9 Mackay et al. 1992

Fig 1.10 Mackay et al. 1992