A large fraction of the trace metal pool in estuarine and coastal waters is complexed with colloidal-sized macromolecular organic matter. Bioaccumulation and bioavailability studies of trace metals have generally utilized freeionic dissolved metal ions. Consequently, little is known about the uptake and depuration kinetics of the colloidally bound species. Chemical characteristics such as the r...

Polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) may pose a worldwide pollution problem because of their persistence, long-range transport capability, and predisposition to bioaccumulate. The ubiquitous presence of PBBs and PBDEs has heightened interest in determination of their fate. We report results for a fugacity-based dynamic environmental and bioaccumulation mode...

The potential bioaccumulation of Cs in marine food webs off Japan became a concern following the release of radioactive contaminants from the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant into the coastal ocean. Previous studies suggest that Cs activities increase with trophic level in pelagic food webs, however, the bioaccumulation of Cs from seawater to primary producers, to zooplankton has not been ...

Background: The bioaccumulation potential of chemical substances is commonly determined in flow-through fish tests according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) technical guideline (TG) 305, aiming at the determination of bioconcentration factors (BCF). Investigations on aquatic organisms have shown a significant positive correlation between the accumulation of a...

"Dissolved" concentrations of contaminants in sediment porewater (Cfree ) provide a more relevant exposure metric for risk assessment than do total concentrations. Passive sampling methods (PSMs) for estimating Cfree offer the potential for cost-efficient and accurate in situ characterization of Cfree for inorganic sediment contaminants. In contrast to the PSMs validated and applied for organic...

Mercury and other contaminants in coastal and open-ocean ecosystems are an issue of great concern globally and in the United States, where consumption of marine fish and shellfish is a major route of human exposure to methylmercury (MeHg). A recent National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences-Superfund Basic Research Program workshop titled "Fate and Bioavailability of Mercury in Aquatic...

Elucidating the relationships between the toxicity-based-toxicokinetic (TBTK)/toxicodynamic (TD) properties of engineered nanomaterials and their nanotoxicity is crucial for human health-risk analysis. Zerovalent iron (Fe0) nanoparticles (NPs) are one of the most prominent NPs applied in remediating contaminated soils and groundwater. However, there are concerns that Fe0NP application contribut...