title: Estimating surface water concentrations of "down-the-drain" chemicals in China using a global model.
abstract: Predictions of surface water exposure to "down-the-drain" chemicals are presented which employ grid-based spatially-referenced data on average monthly runoff, population density, country-specific per capita domestic water and substance use rates and sewage treatment provision. Water and chemical load are routed through the landscape using flow directions derived from digital elevation data, accounting for in-stream chemical losses using simple first order kinetics. Although the spatial and temporal resolution of the model are relatively coarse, the model still has advantages over spatially inexplicit "unit-world" approaches, which apply arbitrary dilution factors, in terms of predicting the location of exposure hotspots and the statistical distribution of concentrations. The latter can be employed in probabilistic risk assessments. Here the model was applied to predict surface water exposure to "down-the-drain" chemicals in China for different levels of sewage treatment provision. Predicted spatial patterns of concentration were consistent with observed water quality classes for China.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Science and Technology, School of Applied Sciences, Cranfield University, Cranfield, Bedfordshire, MK43 0AL, UK. m.j.whelan@cranfield.ac.uk
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Whelan
authors.forename: J E N
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Hodges
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.forename: V D J
authors.initials: VD
authors.lastname: Keller
authors.forename: O R
authors.initials: OR
authors.lastname: Price
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D002681:China; D004323:Drainage, Sanitary / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005618:Fresh Water / Q000737:chemistry*; D006795:Household Products / Q000032:analysis*; D008956:Models, Chemical; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*; D014877:Water Pollution, Chemical / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
chemical_list: D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical