ABSTRACT
A water quality model is used to evaluate the fate of 2,4,6-trichlorophenol discharged from a pulp and paper mill into Lake Saimaa in Finland. The lake is characterized as a multi-segment receiving environment consisting of a series of three water columns exposed to the atmosphere, each with a sediment compartment, and five classes of organisms exposed to chemicals present in water and sediment. The model is successful in estimating concentrations in the water column and forage fish with all predictions lying in the range of observations. Although the sediment data are not as well predicted, all estimations are within a factor of two to four of the mean of the measurements. Results from this preliminary modeling exercise are encouraging and suggest that this approach is capable of providing a quantitative link between known loadings of an organochlorine from a specific mill and concentrations in water, sediments, and biota, and thus can contribute to the assessment of the impact of chemical discharges on the receiving aquatic ecosystem.
