Atmospheric Dispersion

Modelling Criteria

Catherine GUEGUEN Vincent MARCHAND

 Release-Time Modes

Continuous Release

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 Release-Time Modes

Varying Release

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 LC & IDLH Criteria

Exposure Limits
*LC values: it is the concentration at which a given percentage of the exposed
population will die. We use 2 types of values:
- LC1 (1 % of the exposed population will die)
- LCLO (the lowest concentration of substance in air reported)
* IDLH values (Immediately Dangerous to Life and Health Value) represents the
maximum concentration from which one could escape within 30 minutes
without any escape-impairing symptoms or any irreversible health effects .

Toxic Load
The toxicity is influenced by two factors:
* the concentration in the air (C),
* the duration of exposure (t).
A functional relationship between C and t can be developed (Haber Law):

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 HABER Law

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 Probit

Probit Definition
It is possible, with probit functions, to determine a relationship between
response and dose (function of concentration and exposure duration), for every
arbitrary chosen concentration.
The probit function is equal to:

In which Pr is a quantity derived, via a statistical transformation, from the response fraction R
as follows:

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 Concrete Application

Time-Varying Release
Choose a particular point on this "X" axis and calculate the concentration vs.
time with a dispersion model.
* determine the 30 minutes maximum exposure duration (red arrow),
* split the curve in small t and calculate the average concentration
during this period (pink rectangle),
* calculate, for each
rectangle, C n * t and
then sum to obtain the
toxic load at this
particular point.

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