Advances in evaluating the oral bioavailability of inorganics in soil for use in human health risk assessment
- and others
Cleanup goals for sites affected by inorganic contaminants often are established on the basis of risk assessments, and these assessments rely on the estimated oral toxicity of the substances of concern. These toxicity estimates typically are based on historical studies in which a soluble salt of the metal was dissolved in water or mixed in food and the ingested by an animal or human. Therefore, a more accurate risk assessment must account for the bioavailability of the metal in site-specific soil, relative to the bioavailability of the metal in the form administered in the toxicity study. The most promising option involves the development and validation of in vitro extraction tests that are predictive or oral metals bioavailability from soil. Such tests would provide a rapid and inexpensive method for developing more accurate exposure estimates for use in human health risk assessments. This paper reviews the site-specific in vivo studies that have been conducted to estimate the relative bioavailability of these elements, and reviews the research to date on the development of bioavailability-predictive extraction tests for metals in soil. Finally this paper outlines an ongoing collaborative research project to formally validate an in vitro extraction text for use in estimating the oral bioavailability of arsenic and lead in soil.
- Research Organization:
- Exponent Environmental Group, Boulder, CO (US)
- OSTI ID:
- 20000693
- Journal Information:
- Environmental Science and Technology, Vol. 33, Issue 21; Other Information: PBD: 1 Nov 1999; ISSN 0013-936X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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