Modeling the fate of chemicals in an aquatic environment: The use of computer spreadsheet and graphics software

The Quantitative Water Air Sediment Interaction (QWASI) model, based on the concept of fugacity, is used to develop quantitative descriptions of the fate of chemicals in aquatic environ- ments using LOTUS 1-2-3 software on a microcomputer. This software package is shown to pro- vide a powerful, easy to use framework in which to use QWASI to simulate the reported fate of three chemicals: tertiary butylphenyl diphenyl phosphate, 3,4-dichloroaniline and chloroform. For each chemical, the graphics capabilities and interactive features of LOTUS 1-2-3 are used to guide the modeler regarding the influence of various processes on the fate of the chemical and determine ap- propriate variables on which to focus to improve the simulation.