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ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURE ASSESSMENT<br />

density of a compartment cannot be changed independently of the fractions of the separate<br />

phases <strong>and</strong> vice versa.<br />

The bulk densities of the compartments soil, sediment, <strong>and</strong> suspended matter are defined by the<br />

fractions of the separate phases:<br />

RHOcomp Fsolid comp • RHOsolid + Fwatercomp<br />

• RHOwater + Faircomp<br />

Explanation of symbols<br />

44<br />

= •<br />

with comp<br />

∈<br />

{ soil, sed, susp}<br />

RHOair<br />

Fxcomp fraction of phase x in compartment comp [m 3. m -3 ] Table 5<br />

RHOx density of phase x [kg . m -3 ] Table 5<br />

RHOcomp wet bulk density of compartment comp [kg . m -3 ]<br />

Application of the <strong>for</strong>mulas above <strong>for</strong> the values mentioned leads to the following bulk densities<br />

of each st<strong>and</strong>ard environmental compartment:<br />

Total bulk density of the environmental compartments<br />

RHOsusp Bulk density of (wet) suspended matter [kg . m -3 ] 1,150<br />

RHOsed Bulk density of (wet) sediment [kg . m -3 ] 1,300<br />

RHOsoil Bulk density of (wet) soil [kg . m -3 ] 1,700<br />

2.3.5 Partition coefficients<br />

In this section, the following processes are described:<br />

• fraction of substance in air associated with aerosol;<br />

• partitioning between air <strong>and</strong> water;<br />

• partitioning between solids <strong>and</strong> water in soil, sediment <strong>and</strong> suspended matter.<br />

Transport <strong>and</strong> trans<strong>for</strong>mation (“fate”) describe the distribution of a substance in the environment,<br />

or in organisms, <strong>and</strong> its changes with time (in concentration, chemical <strong>for</strong>m, etc.). Since<br />

measured data on fate processes <strong>for</strong> different compartments are usually not available, they must<br />

be extrapolated from the primary data listed in Section 2.3.2. This section describes the<br />

derivation of the partitioning processes between air-aerosol, air-water, <strong>and</strong> solids-water in the<br />

various compartments.<br />

It should be noted that <strong>for</strong> ionising substances, partitioning behaviour between air-water <strong>and</strong><br />

solids-water is dependent on the pH of the environment. Appendix XI gives more specific<br />

<strong>guidance</strong> <strong>for</strong> the assessment of these compounds.<br />

Fate estimates based on “partitioning” are limited to distribution of a substance in molecular<br />

<strong>for</strong>m. For substances that also will be distributed in the environment as particles (caused by<br />

abrasion/weathering of anthropogenic materials) extrapolation based on partitioning may not be<br />

relevant. In such a case the partitioning method may underestimate exposure of soil <strong>and</strong><br />

sediment environments <strong>and</strong> overestimate the exposure of water. If the particle size is small also<br />

air distribution may occur, at least in the local perspective. There are no estimation methods<br />

available <strong>for</strong> particle distribution so this has to be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.<br />

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