ABSTRACT
Important phases that largely govern behavior and fate of pesticides and other contaminants in the environment are “air, water, soil, and biota.” The air phase is a focus of this book. Pesticide formulation and means of delivery affect the occurrence and distribution of these chemicals in the air. Important processes affecting transport and fate are volatilization, adsorption, water solubility, and stability (reactivity). Vapor pressure and water solubility govern rates and extents of volatilization. Temperature, properties of the environment, and means of release underpin the primary processes and affect how much gets into the air. An unplanned forensic application of volatilization of mixtures was the determination of the cause of the crash of TWA flight 800 in 1996, which resulted in the death of 230 passengers and crew on Long Island, NY. Another application was calculation of the release of reactive hydrocarbons to air—important to formation of photochemical smog—from spraying of weed oils to kill weeds in croplands. Other applications are given in this and subsequent chapters.
