This volume contains the proceedings of an international workshop on the issue of `Fate of Pesticides in the Atmosphere - Implications for Risk Assessment' held in 1998 in The Netherlands. Topics include emission, dispersion, transport and transformations of pesticides in the atmosphere, and the ecotoxicological risks of pesticides in remote areas. Laboratory and field measurements are reviewed, and modeling of the atmospheric processes that affect pesticides are discussed. Various risk assessment approaches are presented, and possible statutory environmental criteria that could be incorporated into pesticide regulation in order to limit their atmospheric dispersion are explored. This is the first book to present a complete review of the science of this subject with the aim of investigating the possibilities of incorporating long-range transport potential of pesticides into protocols for estimating their environmental risks and their registration. This book will be important for atmospheric and pesticide scientists, pesticide manufacturers, pesticide regulators, and risk assessors.

This Guidance Document concerns using multimedia models, i.e. generic evaluative models that can calculate overall environmental persistence (Pov) and potential for long-range transport (LTRP) covering multiple compartments such as air, water, sediment and soil.

Recent advances in air pollution monitoring and modeling capabilities have made it possible to show that air pollution can be transported long distances and that adverse impacts of emitted pollutants cannot be confined to one country or even one continent. Pollutants from traffic, cooking stoves, and factories emitted half a world away can make the air we inhale today more hazardous for our health. The relative importance of this "imported" pollution is likely to increase, as emissions in developing countries grow, and air quality standards in industrial countries are tightened. Global Sources of Local Pollution examines the impact of the long-range transport of four key air pollutants (ozone, particulate matter, mercury, and persistent organic pollutants) on air quality and pollutant deposition in the United States. It also explores the environmental impacts of U.S. emissions on other parts of the world. The book recommends that the United States work with the international community to develop an integrated system for determining pollution sources and impacts and to design effective response strategies. This book will be useful to international, federal, state, and local policy makers responsible for understanding and managing air pollution and its impacts on human health and well-being.

This Guidance Document is addressed to those who are involved in risk assessment and management of chemicals called POPs (persistent organic pollutants) or PBTs (persistent and bio-accumulating toxics). It is about using multimedia models, i.e. generic evaluative models that can calculate overall environmental persistence (Pov) and potential for long-range transport (LTRP) covering multiple compartments such as air, water, sediment and soil: what models you can use to identify and characterize POPs/PBTs, what data to use, and how to use model calculations.

Most people know about the presence and health effects of pesticide residues in the water they drink. However, they may not realize the impact of atmospheric transportation and deposition of pesticides on water quality. Scientific studies of pesticides in various atmospheric matrices (air, rain, snow, aerosols, and fog) provide some of the answers.