Human activities are responsible for the global distribution of synthetic chemicals in the environment. In this study the role and relative importance of atmospheric transport of three groups of anthropogenic organic chemicals in Iowa and the Great Lakes was examined. The chemical groups were synthetic musk fragrances, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and current-use pesticides.

The partitioning of gas-phase anthracene with Ficus benjamina was investigated in a climate-controlled chamber. The effect of light, relative humidity, and temperature were investigated and evaluated with a chemical fate model developed for the chamber system.

Synthetic musk fragrances were measured in the ambient environment in the United States for the first time. A lake-wide annual mass budget on Lake Michigan showed that wastewater treatment plant discharge is the major source (3470 kg/yr) of synthetic musks while atmospheric deposition contributes less than 1%. Volatilization (2085 kg/yr) and flow out of the lake (516 kg/yr) are both important loss processes.

A method for the identification and quantification of current-use pesticides, synthetic musk fragrances, and PAHs was developed and used to measure these compounds over Lakes Erie and Ontario in August 2002 and at three sites in eastern Iowa during 2000–2002. HHCB and AHTN were the most frequently detected synthetic musks. The average gas-phase concentrations of the detected values for HHCB and AHTN were 0.35 ng/m³ and 0.26 ng/m ³, respectively. Average detected PAH concentrations ranged from 0.12 ng/m³ for 3,6-dimethylphenanthrene to 17 ng/m³ for 2-methylnapthalene. The average detected concentrations of three heavily used herbicides were 4.6 ng/m³ for acetochlor, 2.3 ng/m ³ for metolachlor, and 1.1 ng/m³ for alachlor. The most frequently detected insecticides were phorate and chlorpyrifos, which were found in 20% and 19% of the samples, respectively. The average detected phorate and chlorpyrifos concentrations were 25 ng/m³ and 1.0 ng/m³, respectively. The most frequently detected current-use fungicide was etridiazole, which was found in 10% of the samples. Gaseous deposition fluxes to a model plant were predicted using the measured gas-phase concentrations. Predicted yearly deposition rates were 5.1 μg/m ² for metolachlor, 0.51 μg/m² for alachlor, 4.0 μg/m ² for atrazine.