Comparison of three fish bioaccumulation models for ecological and human risk assessment and validation with field data

Abstract

This article compares two bioconcentration Quantitative Structure Activity Relationships (QSARs) for fish applied in human risk assessments with the mechanistic bioaccumulation model OMEGA and field data. It was found that all models are virtually similar up to a Kow of 10⁶. For substances with a Kow higher than 10⁶, the fish bioconcentration curve in the risk assessment model EUSES decreases parabolically. In contrast, OMEGA bioaccumulation outcomes approximately show a linear increase, based on mechanistic bioconcentration and biomagnification properties of chemicals. The OMEGA-outcomes are close to the fish bioconcentration outcomes of the risk assessment model CalTOX. For very hydrophobic substances, field accumulation data in freshwater and marine fish species are closer to OMEGA- and CalTOX-outcomes compared to EUSES. The results also show that it is important to include biomagnification in fish and lipid content of fish in human exposure models.

Keywords:

• Exposure model
• Fish
• Bioaccumulation
• Lipid content
• EUSES
• OMEGA
• CalTOX

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Karin Veltman, for providing some of the data included in this article.