Characterization of the fate and distribution of ethiprole in water-fish-sediment microcosm using a fugacity model.

A novel, relatively simple and effective three-compartment level IV fugacity model was developed to quantitatively describe the fate, transformation and transport of ethiprole in an aquatic system. Chemical equilibrium was assumed to apply within each bulk compartment. Expressions are included for degradation reactions, advective flow, emission, and interphase transport by non-diffusive and diffusive processes. The simulated results closely matched the results obtained from the experiments. The model indicated that at 25°C (day:night=12h:12h), after approximately 672h, Results of the model calculations showed that the ethiprole was degraded by both photolysis and microorganisms in the water accounts for 86.8% (account for 90.4%, 95.4% in Beijing (BJ) and Hunan (HN) microcosm respectively) of the total removal, the ethiprole was removed by advective outflow accounts for 0.15% (accounts for 0.05%, 0.1% in HN and BJ microcosm respectively) of the total removal, the ethiprole were removed by biodegradation in sediment and fish, accounts for 8.54% and 5.55% (accounts for 2.52% and 2.03%, 5.6% and 3.7% in HN and BJ microcosm respectively) of the total removal respectively in HLJ microcosm. It indicates that biodegradation and photolysis in the water phase were the most important removal process, and most of the ethiprole was distributed in the water phase. A sensitivity analysis of the input parameters indicates that the Henry's law constant (H) and octanol-water partition coefficient (K) parameters are the both most sensitive to the ethiprole concentration in the medium, which suggests that the H and K have important impact on both the distribution and variance of the contaminant concentration. The mass balance under steady-state conditions showed that over 90% of ethiprole stay in water for all microcosm. This finding demonstrates that water plays a key role in the fate of ethiprole, acting as the major sink for contaminants in the stimulation system.