The identification of potential exposure pathways will be based on an evaluation of the environmental fate and transport of contaminants from one environmental medium to another, together with the identification of possible exposure routes from environmental media to biota.
Environmental fate and transport mechanisms to be considered include:
Each represents a mechanism by which a contaminant may be released from one location and medium and be transported to another location, potentially contaminating additional media.
Exposure routes represent the mechanisms by which the ecological receptors may be exposed to the contaminants and include contaminant transport directly from the media to the biota and also from biota to biota via food uptake. These exposure routes include:
Different fate and transport mechanisms will be important for different COPCs. Similarly, different exposure routes will be important for different ecological receptors.