title: A large-scale model for simulating the fate & transport of organic contaminants in river basins.
abstract: We present STREAM-EU (Spatially and Temporally Resolved Exposure Assessment Model for EUropean basins), a novel dynamic mass balance model for predicting the environmental fate of organic contaminants in river basins. STREAM-EU goes beyond the current state-of-the-science in that it can simulate spatially and temporally-resolved contaminant concentrations in all relevant environmental media (surface water, groundwater, snow, soil and sediments) at the river basin scale. The model can currently be applied to multiple organic contaminants in any river basin in Europe, but the model framework is adaptable to any river basin in any continent. We simulate the environmental fate of perfluoroctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) in the Danube River basin and compare model predictions to recent monitoring data. The model predicts PFOS and PFOA concentrations that agree well with measured concentrations for large stretches of the river. Disagreements between the model predictions and measurements in some river sections are shown to be useful indicators of unknown contamination sources to the river basin.
authors.affiliation: ACES-Department of Analytical Chemistry and Environmental Science, Stockholm University, SE-10691 Stockholm, Sweden. Electronic address: claudia.lindim@aces.su.se.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lindim
authors.affiliation: Deltares, PO Box 177, 2600 MH Delft, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: van Gils
authors.affiliation: ACES-Department of Analytical Chemistry and Environmental Science, Stockholm University, SE-10691 Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: I T
authors.initials: IT
authors.lastname: Cousins
mesh_terms: D017738:Alkanesulfonic Acids / Q000737:chemistry; D002210:Caprylates / Q000737:chemistry; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005060:Europe; D005466:Fluorocarbons / Q000737:chemistry; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D045483:Rivers / Q000737:chemistry*; D012987:Soil / Q000737:chemistry; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D017738:Alkanesulfonic Acids; D002210:Caprylates; D005466:Fluorocarbons; D012987:Soil; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; C023036:perfluorooctanoic acid; C076994:perfluorooctane sulfonic acid
keywords: Fate & transport model; Organic contaminants; PFOA; PFOS; River basins