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Bioavailability of Organic Xenobiotics in the Environment

A Critical Perspective

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Bioavailability of Organic Xenobiotics in the Environment

Part of the book series: NATO ASI Series ((ASEN2,volume 64))

Abstract

The bioavailability of organic xenobiotics in the environment is currently the object of considerable attention from scientists, environmental activists, and policy makers. Yet, in the literature that this interest has stimulated in recent years, the concept of bioavailability itself is seldom defined precisely, with the result that different definitions are used by different people. In the present chapter, we attempt to provide a set of definitions of biovailability, and to relate these definitions to the concepts of exposure and dose traditionally used in (eco)toxicology. Assumptions used to assess the bioavailability of xenobiotics in soils and sediments are critically reviewed, as well as the experimental evidence concerning changes in bioavailability over time (aging). Based on a number of recent publications, it is argued that the key determinant of the bioavailability of organic xenobiotics in subsurface environments is not the (supposedly fixed) rate of their release by the soil matrix but instead the ability of microbial cells and higher organisms to act as sinks for these compounds. This viewpoint is supported by experiments carried out with near-perfect sinks (resin beads), which have shown limited aging of organic xenobiotics and heavy metals in soils. The “sink theory” of the bioavailability of organic xenobiotics, introduced in this chapter, has a number of very practical consequences, in particular in terms of environmental policy decisions.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Environmental Geophysics, Cornell University, Bradfield Hall, Ithaca, New York, 14853-1901, USA

    Philippe Baveye

  2. Comparative and Environmental Toxicology, Cornell University, Riley-Robb Hall, Ithaca, New York, 14853, USA

    Rebecca Bladon

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  1. Philippe Baveye
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  2. Rebecca Bladon
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Environmental Geophysics, Cornell University, Bradfield Hall, 14853-1901, Ithaca, NY, USA

    Philippe Baveye

  2. Laboratoire Santé Environnement — LCPE, UMR Université-CNRS 7564, Faculté de Pharmacie — Pôle de l’Eau, 15, avenue du Charmois, F-54500, Vandoeuvre lès Nancy, France

    Jean-Claude Block

  3. Dumansky Institute of Water and Colloïdal Chemistry, Science Academyc of Ukraine, 42 Vernadsky Avenue, 252680, Kiev, Ukraine

    Vladislav V. Goncharuk

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Baveye, P., Bladon, R. (1999). Bioavailability of Organic Xenobiotics in the Environment. In: Baveye, P., Block, JC., Goncharuk, V.V. (eds) Bioavailability of Organic Xenobiotics in the Environment. NATO ASI Series, vol 64. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-9235-2_14

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-9235-2_14

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-90-481-5311-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-015-9235-2

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