Application of a Tenax model to assess bioavailability of polychlorinated biphenyls in field sediments.

Recent literature has shown that bioavailability-based techniques, such as Tenax extraction, can estimate sediment exposure to benthos. In a previous study by the authors, Tenax extraction was used to create and validate a literature-based Tenax model to predict oligochaete bioaccumulation of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) from sediment; however, its ability to assess sediment remediation was unknown. The present study further tested the Tenax model by examining the impacts of remediation on surface sediment concentrations, Tenax extractable concentrations, and tissue concentrations of laboratory-exposed Lumbriculus variegatus.

Application of a Tenax model to assess bioavailability of PCBs in field sediments.

Bioavailability has been estimated in the past using equilibrium partitioning-based biota-sediment accumulation factors. These values are not always reliable using field-collected sediments, however, likely due to varying amounts of different organic carbons, particularly black carbon, in sediments. Therefore, improving approaches to better evaluate contaminant bioavailability in sediment are needed.