Bioconcentration

Bioconcentration is the accumulation of a chemical in or on an organism when the source of chemical is

solely water.[1] Bioconcentration is a term that was created for use in the field of aquatic toxicology.[1]
Bioconcentration can also be defined as the process by which a chemical concentration in an aquatic organism
exceeds that in water as a result of exposure to a waterborne chemical.[2]

There are several ways in which to measure and assess bioaccumulation and bioconcentration. These include:
octanol-water partition coefficients (KOW), bioconcentration factors (BCF), bioaccumulation factors (BAF)
and biota-sediment accumulation factor (BSAF). Each of these can be calculated using either empirical data or
measurements as well as from mathematical models.[3] One of these mathematical models is a fugacity-based
BCF model developed by Don Mackay.[4]

Bioconcentration factor can also be expressed as the ratio of the concentration of a chemical in an organism to
the concentration of the chemical in the surrounding environment. The BCF is a measure of the extent of
chemical sharing between an organism and the surrounding environment.[5]

In surface water, the BCF is the ratio of a chemical's concentration in an organism to the chemical's aqueous
concentration. BCF is often expressed in units of liter per kilogram (ratio of mg of chemical per kg of organism
to mg of chemical per liter of water).[6] BCF can simply be an observed ratio, or it can be the prediction of a
partitioning model.[6] A partitioning model is based on assumptions that chemicals partition between water and
aquatic organisms as well as the idea that chemical equilibrium exists between the organisms and the aquatic
environment in which it is found[6]

Contents
Calculation
Fugacity capacity
Regression equations for estimations in fish
Uses
Regulatory uses
Applications
Equilibrium partitioning models
Fugacity models
Food web models
Applications to toxicology
Predictions
Body burden
Biological factors
Environmental parameters
Temperature
Water quality
References
External links
Calculation
Bioconcentration can be described by a bioconcentration factor (BCF), which is the ratio of the chemical
concentration in an organism or biota to the concentration in water:[2]

[2]

Bioconcentration factors can also be related to the octanol-water partition coefficient, Kow. The octanol-water
partition coefficient (Kow) is correlated with the potential for a chemical to bioaccumulate in organisms; the
BCF can be predicted from log Kow, via computer programs based on structure activity relationship (SAR)[7]
or through the linear equation:
[8]

Where:

at equilibrium

Fugacity capacity

Fugacity and BCF relate to each other in the following equation:

[6]

where ZFish is equal to the Fugacity capacity of a chemical in the fish, PFish is equal to the density of the fish
(mass/length3 ), BCF is the partition coefficient between the fish and the water (length3 /mass) and H is equal to
the Henry's law constant (Length2 /Time2 )[6]

Regression equations for estimations in fish

Chemicals Used to
Equation Species Used
obtain equation
Fathead Minnow, Bluegill Sunfish,
84
Rainbow Trout, Mosquitofish
[4] 44 Various

Brook trout, Rainbow trout, Bluegill

36
Sunfish, Fathead minnow, Carp
[9] 7 Various

13 Various

Uses
Regulatory uses

Through the use of the PBT Profiler and using criteria set forth by the United States Environmental Protection
Agency under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), a substance is considered to be not bioaccumulative
if it has a BCF less than 1000, bioaccumulative if it has a BCF from 1000–5000[10] and very bioaccumulative
if it has a BCF greater than 5,000.[10]

The thresholds under REACH are a BCF of > 2000 l/kg bzw. for the B and 5000 l/kg for vB criteria.[11]

Applications
A bioconcentration factor greater than 1 is indicative of a hydrophobic or lipophilic chemical. It is an indicator
of how probable a chemical is to bioaccumulate.[1] These chemicals have high lipid affinities and will
concentrate in tissues with high lipid content instead of in an aqueous environment like the cytosol. Models are
used to predict chemical partitioning in the environment which in turn allows the prediction of the biological
fate of lipophilic chemicals.[1]

Equilibrium partitioning models

Based on an assumed steady state scenario, the fate of a chemical in a system is modeled giving predicted
endpoint phases and concentrations.[12]

It needs to be considered that reaching steady state may need a substantial amount of time as estimated using
the following equation (in hours).[13][14]

For a substance with a log(KOW) of 4, it thus takes approximately five days to reach effective steady state. For
a log(KOW) of 6, the equilibrium time increases to nine months.

Fugacity models

Fugacity is another predictive criterion for equilibrium among phases that has units of pressure. It is equivalent
to partial pressure for most environmental purposes. It is the absconding propensity of a material.[1] BCF can
be determined from output parameters of a fugacity model and thus used to predict the fraction of chemical
immediately interacting with and possibly having an effect on an organism.

Food web models

If organism-specific fugacity values are available, it is possible to create a food web model which takes trophic
webs into consideration.[1] This is especially pertinent for conservative chemicals that are not easily
metabolized into degradation products. Biomagnification of conservative chemicals such as toxic metals can be
harmful to apex predators like orca whales, osprey, and bald eagles.

Applications to toxicology

Predictions
Bioconcentration factors facilitate predicting contamination levels in an organism based on chemical
concentration in surrounding water.[12] BCF in this setting only applies to aquatic organisms. Air breathing
organisms do not take up chemicals in the same manner as other aquatic organisms. Fish, for example uptake
chemicals via ingestion and osmotic gradients in gill lamellae.[6]

When working with benthic macroinvertebrates, both water and benthic sediments may contain chemical that
affects the organism. Biota-sediment accumulation factor (BSAF) and biomagnification factor (BMF) also
influence toxicity in aquatic environments.

BCF does not explicitly take metabolism into consideration so it needs to be added to models at other points
through uptake, elimination or degradation equations for a selected organism.

Body burden

Chemicals with high BCF values are more lipophilic, and at equilibrium organisms will have greater
concentrations of chemical than other phases in the system. Body burden is the total amount of chemical in the
body of an organism,[12] and body burdens will be greater when dealing with a lipophilic chemical.

Biological factors
In determining the degree at which bioconcentration occurs biological factors have to be kept in mind. The rate
at which an organism is exposed through respiratory surfaces and contact with dermal surfaces of the
organism, competes against the rate of excretion from an organism. The rate of excretion is a loss of chemical
from the respiratory surface, growth dilution, fecal excretion, and metabolic biotransformation.[15] Growth
dilution is not an actual process of excretion but due to the mass of the organism increasing while the
contaminant concentration remains constant dilution occurs.

The interaction between inputs and outputs is shown here:

[15]

The variables are defined as:

CBis the concentration in the organism (g*kg−1 ).[15] t represents a unit of time (d−1 ).[15] k1 is the rate constant
for chemical uptake from water at the respiratory surface (L*kg−1 *d−1 ).[15] CWD is the chemical concentration
dissolved in water (g*L−1 ).[15] k2 ,kE,kG,kB are rate constants that represent excretion from the organism from
the respiratory surface, fecal excretion, metabolic transformation, and growth dilution (d−1 ).[15]

Static variables influence BCF as well. Because organisms are modeled as bags of fat, lipid to water ratio is a
factor that needs to be considered.[6] Size also plays a role as the surface to volume ratio influence the rate of
uptake from the surrounding water.[15] The species of concern is a primary factor in influencing BCF values
due to it determining all of the biological factors that alter a BCF.[6]

Environmental parameters

Temperature

Temperature may affect metabolic transformation, and bioenergetics. An example of this is the movement of
the organism may change as well as rates of excretion.[15] If a contaminant is ionic, the change in pH that is
influenced by a change in temperature may also influence the bioavailability[1]
Water quality

The natural particle content as well as organic carbon content in water can affect the bioavailability. The
contaminant can bind to the particles in the water, making uptake more difficult, as well as become ingested by
the organism. This ingestion could consist of contaminated particles which would cause the source of
contamination to be from more than just water.[15]

References
1. Landis WG, Sofield RM, Yu MH (2011). Introduction to Environmental Toxicology: Molecular
Structures to Ecological Landscapes (Fourth ed.). Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press. pp. 117–162.
ISBN 978-1-4398-0410-0.
2. Gobas FAPC; Morrison HA (2000). "Biococentration and biomagnification in the aquatic
environment". In Boethling RS; Mackay D (eds.). Handbook of Property Estimation Methods for
Chemicals: Environmental and Health Sciences. Boca Raton, FL, USA: Lewis. pp. 189–231.
3. Arnot, Jon A.; Frank A.P.C. Gobas (2004). "A Food Web Bioaccumulation Model for Organic
Chemicals in Aquatic Ecosystems". Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. 23 (10): 2343–
2355. doi:10.1897/03-438 (https://doi.org/10.1897%2F03-438).
4. Mackay, Don (1982). "Correlation of bioconcentration factors". Environmental Science and
Technology. 16 (5): 274–278. doi:10.1021/es00099a008 (https://doi.org/10.1021%2Fes00099a
008).
5. "Chapter 173–333 WAC Persistent Bioaccumulative Toxins" (https://web.archive.org/web/2017
0209212428/http://www.ecy.wa.gov/laws-Rules/wac173333/p0407_cont_a.pdf) (PDF).
Department of Ecology. Archived from the original (http://www.ecy.wa.gov/laws-rules/wac17333
3/p0407_cont_a.pdf) (PDF) on 9 February 2017. Retrieved 6 February 2012.
6. Hemond, Harold (2000). Chemical Fate and Transport in the Environment. San Diego, CA:
Elsevier. pp. 156–157. ISBN 978-0-12-340275-2.
7. EPA. "Category for Persistent, Bioaccumulative, and Toxic New Chemical Substances" (http://
www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/EPA-TOX/1999/November/Day-04/t28888.htm). Federal Register
Environmental Documents. USEPA. Retrieved 3 June 2012.
8. Bergen, Barbara J.; William G. Nelson; Richard J. Pruell (1993). "Bioaccumulation of PCB
Congeners by Blue Mussels (Mytilus edulis) deployed in New Bedford Harbor, Massachusetts".
Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. 12: 1671–1681. doi:10.1002/etc.5620120916 (http
s://doi.org/10.1002%2Fetc.5620120916).
9. Chiou CT, Freed VH, Schmedding DW, Kohnert RL (1977). "Partition Coefficient and
Bioaccumulation of Selected Organic Chemicals". Environmental Science and Technology. 29
(5): 475–478. doi:10.1021/es60128a001 (https://doi.org/10.1021%2Fes60128a001).
10. "Bioaccumulation Criteria" (https://web.archive.org/web/20160501194153/http://www.pbtprofile
r.net/criteria.asp). Archived from the original (http://www.pbtprofiler.net/criteria.asp) on 1 May
2016. Retrieved 3 June 2012.
11. Guidance on information requirements and chemical safety assessment: Chapter R.11: PBT
Assessment (Version 1.1) (http://echa.europa.eu/documents/10162/13632/information_require
ments_r11_en.pdf), 2012, p. 15
12. Rand, Gary (1995). Fundamentals of Aquatic Toxicology. Boca Raton: CRC Press. pp. 494–
495. ISBN 978-1-56032-091-3.
13. OECD GUIDELINES FOR TESTING OF CHEMICALS: Test No. 305: Bioaccumulation in Fish:
Aqueous and Dietary Exposure, S. 56, doi: 10.1787/9789264185296-en
14. Hawker D.W. and Connell D.W. (1988), Influence of partition coefficient of lipophilic compounds
on bioconcentration kinetics with fish. Wat. Res. 22: 701–707, doi: 10.1016/0043-
1354(88)90181-9.
15. Arnot, Jon A; Gobas, Frank APC (2006). "A review of bioconcentration factor (BCF) and
bioaccumulation factor (BAF) assessments for organic chemicals in aquatic organisms".
Environmental Reviews. 14 (4): 257–297. doi:10.1139/a06-005 (https://doi.org/10.1139%2Fa06
-005).

External links
PBT Profiler (https://web.archive.org/web/20160422092616/http://www.pbtprofiler.net/)
Ruth "The Hammer" Sofield (http://faculty.wwu.edu/harperr3/)
Persistent Organic Pollutants (http://chm.pops.int/Convention/ThePOPs/tabid/673/Default.aspx)
United States Environmental Protection Agency (http://www.epa.gov/)

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