Modeling exposure routes to man of trace metals associated with acid precipitation.

Pollutant metals released to the environment disperse and interact in various ways before arriving at sensitive receptors. Modeling of pollutant behavior may be by time-dependent or time-independent means. The time-independent, exposure commitment method requires a less extensive data base and can begin with general associations between environmental concentrations or fluxes. Such assessments for representative background conditions have been performed for most of the metals associated with acid precipitation. Examples are given here for cadmium and mercury. These overviews are only the beginning stage of relating pollutant releases to environmental effects.