Evaporative emissions from tailings ponds are not likely an important source of airborne PAHs in the Athabasca oil sands region

In their paper, Parajulee and Wania (1) use a multimedia fate model to argue that emissions of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in environmental impact assessments conducted to approve developments in the Athabasca oil sands region (AOSR) are likely underestimated. The discrepancy between their model and reported emissions was mainly attributed to indirect evaporative releases of PAHs from tailings ponds (TPs).