A Multicompartmental, Multi-Basin Fugacity Model Describing the Fate of PCBs in the Baltic Sea

Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and organochlorinated compounds reach lakes, estuaries and the oceans through direct discharge, riverine inflow or atmospheric deposition. These generally quite hydrophobic chemicals have a low affinity for the aqueous phase and tend to partition into the organic phases of suspended solids and bottom sediments or the lipid fraction of aquatic biota. Some POPs show a potential to biomagnify and the highest concentrations are often found in the upper trophic levels of aquatic food chains.