Modelling the Fate of Organochlorine Chemicals in Pulp Mill Effluents

Abstract

Abstract A comprehensive and flexible water quality model is described which can be used to evaluate the fate of chemicals discharged from an industrial source, such as a pulp mill, into a multi-compartment receiving environment consisting of three water columns exposed to the atmosphere, each with a sediment compartment, and five classes of organisms exposed to chemicals present in water and sediment. The aim of the model is to provide a method by which known loadings of organochlorines and other chemicals from a specific mill can be used, along with other input information (e.g., inputs from other mills, advective inflow from nearby waters, and from atmospheric deposition) to deduce amounts and concentrations of chemicals and process rates (e.g., rates of evaporation or transformation) in water, sediments and biota. Results are presented for an evaluative system and for a trichlorophenol and a trichloroguaiacol in a real system in Northern Ontario. Discrepancies found between observed and calculated concentrations of the trichlorophenol and the trichloroguaiacol in the receiving environment are discussed. Recommendations are made for studies which will elucidate the causes.