Bioaccumulation approaches to human health sediment quality criteria: A comparison of equilibrium partitioning and empirically-derived values
- Washington State Dept. of Ecology, Olympia, WA (United States)
Human health-based sediment quality criteria for Puget Sound are being developed by Washington State. Since fish consumption is recognized as the primary pathway of human exposure to contaminated sediments, an approach is needed to estimate bioaccumulation potential. Regulatory agencies, including EPA, have applied the equilibrium partitioning approach to develop human health-based sediment quality guidelines for non-polar, organic contaminants. The Washington State Department of Ecology has applied a different approach, relying instead on empirically-derived biota-sediment accumulation factors (BSAFS) from the national literature and regional sediment and fish tissue data, to develop human health-based sediment criteria. Holding other assumptions and inputs constant, the two approaches for estimating bioaccumulation potential yield highly disparate results for some chemicals of concern. The results are quite consistent for other compounds, especially those with very high bioconcentration factors such as DDT and PCBs.
- OSTI ID:
- 40166
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9410273--
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Uncertainty analysis for an equilibrium partitioning-based estimator of polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbon bioaccumulation potential in sediments
Evaluating and applying sediment bioaccumulation models: A Great Lakes case study