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Tenax extraction mimics benthic and terrestrial bioavailability of organic compounds
Author(s) -
ten Hulscher Theodora E. M.,
Postma Jaap,
den Besten Pieter J.,
Stroomberg Gerard J.,
Belfroid Angelique,
Wegener Jan Willem,
Faber Jack H.,
van der Pol Joost J. C.,
Hendriks A. Jan,
van Noort Paul C. M.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
environmental toxicology and chemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.1
H-Index - 171
eISSN - 1552-8618
pISSN - 0730-7268
DOI - 10.1897/02-488
Subject(s) - tenax , environmental chemistry , sediment , bioavailability , biota , bioaccumulation , environmental science , benthic zone , contamination , extraction (chemistry) , pollutant , chemistry , ecology , geology , biology , adsorption , chromatography , paleontology , bioinformatics , organic chemistry
Biota to sediment accumulation factors (BSAFs) are widely used to describe the potential accumulation of organic contaminants in organisms. From field studies it is known that these BSAFs can vary dramatically between sediments of different origin, which is possibly explained by the variation in bioavailability of organic contaminants in sediments. In the present study it is shown that the variability in BSAF values for different sediment samples obtained at two Dutch freshwater sites could largely be explained by the variation in Tenax‐extractable concentrations in these sediments. Variations of a factor of about 50 could be explained. The ratio between concentrations in biota and Tenax‐extractable concentrations in sediment varied slightly between sediments and contaminant class, but was close to the theoretically expected value of 2. This is a strong indication that Tenax‐extractable concentrations of contaminants in sediments are an excellent indicator of available concentrations.