Application of an environmental exposure model for POPs in Venice lagoon

Abstract

Risk managers and decision makers are in need of flexible tools that inform environmental and human exposures in realistic, complex scenarios. In this thesis a new modelling tool for the integrated assessment of exposure to chemicals, called MERLIN-Expo, is applied to a case study on POPs exposure in Venice Lagoon. This tool provides a library of exposure models which can be flexibly combined to explore complex scenarios, coupling on the same platform multimedia and physiologically-based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) models for estimating human intake and internal exposure. The models can be used to dynamically simulate fate and exposure for organic and inorganic contaminants. MERLIN-Expo is applied to a case study in the Lagoon of Venice, aimed at estimating environmental exposure to different congeners of PCBs, considering bioaccumulation in aquatic species. Past PCBs concentration trends, reconstructed from dated sediment cores, are used as inputs to model the time-dependent bioaccumulation in selected aquatic organisms. Modelling results are compared to available monitoring data on chemical concentrations in edible aquatic species in Venice area to validate and assess the applicability of the tool.