Page 65 - The Toxicology of Fishes

Bioavailability of Chemical Contaminants in Aquatic Systems 45

bioavailability. Bioavailability assessments must address the various chemical species to which an
organism is exposed and how readily each of these species is absorbed into the organism. Sometimes,
assessments must also address how these species are formed and reach the organism of interest and how
they are processed by the organism after absorption prior to reaching a site of action. This involves
consideration of a variety of processes in the organism’s environment, at the interface between the
organism and its environment, and within the organism. The materials presented in this chapter exemplify
the issues and approaches that have to be considered when developing bioavailability assessments for
specific problems, to ensure that the assessments adequately address the relationship of accumulation
to environmental exposures.

Acknowledgments
We thank Drs. D. Hinton and R. Di Giulio for inviting us to prepare this overview. Review comments
on an earlier version of the manuscript were provided by Drs. L. Burkhard, P. Schoff, and S. Degitz.
Valuable assistance in manuscript preparation was provided by D. Spehar and R. LePage. This chapter
has been reviewed in accordance with EPA policy. Mention of trade names does not indicate endorsement
by the federal government.

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