A multimedia, multiple pathway exposure assessment of atrazine: fate, transport and uncertainty analysis

The potential danger posed to human health from pesticides and herbicides has been a growing national concern due to the increased frequency of agrochemical residues found in food and water. It is becoming critical to determine the concentration in all environmental media for a complete picture of potential human exposure. A multimedia transport model is used to determine the concentration of atrazine in surface water, ground water, surface soil, root zone soil, plants, and air at a typical mid-western location. A range of values is used for each model input, resulting in a distribution of possible concentrations in each medium. A sensitivity analysis determines the influence each parameter has on the outcome variance for each environmental media concentration. The concentrations determined for ground and surface water are then compared to measured concentrations in the region to validate the model. The concentrations are then compared to measured concentrations in the region to validate the model. A companion paper utilizes these concentrations and translates them into human exposure and risk.