Spatial variability of pbdes atmospheric levels in an urban centre: a dispersion modelling approach

PULIAFITO, SALVADOR E.; ALTAMIRANO, JORGELINA C.; RUGGERI, M.FLORENCIA

Simposio; BFR 2017 ? VIII International Symposium on Flame Retardants; 2017

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) have been worldwide used in polymers of electrical appliances as additives for flame retardant. They release to the environment along the production, recycling, usage and final disposal of the goods. These compounds tend to persist and accumulate in the environment, and once they enter the organisms, several toxic effects may be cause1. The concentration of PBDEs in air can be estimated using dispersion models, which implement different descriptions of physicochemical processes and require several input parameters. These models, based on emissions inventories, are an option to obtain a spatial and temporal overview with greater coverage. Moreover, some correlations between the anthropic activities that produce the emissions and the pollutant levels in the environment can be established, as well as the expected levels in association with different scenarios. These models have been developed to assess the long-range transport (LRT), so they use both, emissions inventories and meteorological data, at regional level or even global level, with resolutions of 1° x 1° onwards. Consequently, although the results obtained allow the analysis of the environmental fate of PBDEs on a large scale, low spatial resolution does not allow proper use of them as predictors of exposure levels for the population or as tools for the development of monitoring networks. In this context, the aim of this study is to present an atmospheric dispersion model with high spatiotemporal resolution of PBDEs in the Great Mendoza (Figure 1), a typical area of Latin America with a mid-size urbanized center (1.600.000 habitants) surrounded by agricultural sectors in a complex terrain. Based on a high resolution emissions inventory of PBDEs for the study area3, a simulation of the atmospheric dispersion was performed using the WRF/CALMET/CALPUFF modeling system, which is particularly suitable for estimating atmospheric concentrations in complex environments. The data was organized under a domain of 90x90 km2 centered on the North Oasis of Mendoza, grouping emissions into cells of 1 km×1 km. The generated dispersion maps capture the concentration gradients, being possible its application in the evaluation of human exposure and in the design of monitoring networks. To evaluate the performance of the model, the data were compared with measurements obtained by passive sampling.