title: Advances in in vitro methods to evaluate oral bioaccessibility of PAHs and PBDEs in environmental matrices.
abstract: Cleanup goals for sites contaminated with persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are often established based on total contaminant concentrations. However, mounting evidence suggests that understanding contaminant bioavailability in soils is necessary for accurate assessment of contaminant exposure to humans via oral ingestion pathway. Animal-based in vivo tests have been used to assess contaminant bioavailability in soils; however, due to ethical issues and cost, it is desirable to use in vitro assays as alternatives. Various in vitro methods have been developed, which simulate human gastrointestinal (GI) tract using different digestion fluids. These methods can be used to predict POP bioavailability in soils, foods, and indoor dust after showing good correlation with in vivo animal data. Here, five common in vitro methods are evaluated and compared using PAHs and PBDEs as an example of traditional and emerging POPs. Their applications and limitations are discussed while focusing on method improvements and future challenges to predict POP bioavailability in different matrices. The discussions should shed light for future research to accurately assess human exposure to POPs via oral ingestion pathway.
authors.affiliation: State Key Lab of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Jiangsu 210046, China.
authors.forename: Xin-Yi
authors.initials: XY
authors.lastname: Cui
authors.affiliation: State Key Lab of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Jiangsu 210046, China.
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Xiang
authors.affiliation: State Key Lab of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Jiangsu 210046, China.
authors.forename: Rui-Wen
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Future Industries Institute, University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes, SA 5095, Australia.
authors.forename: Albert
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Juhasz
authors.affiliation: State Key Lab of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Jiangsu 210046, China; Soil and Water Science Department, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA. Electronic address: lqma@ufl.edu.
authors.forename: Lena Q
authors.initials: LQ
authors.lastname: Ma
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001682:Biological Availability; D003198:Computer Simulation; D004391:Dust / Q000032:analysis; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000032:analysis*; D020387:Food Chain; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000032:analysis; D041981:Gastrointestinal Tract / Q000378:metabolism; D055768:Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008954:Models, Biological; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism; D012987:Soil / Q000737:chemistry; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D004391:Dust; D055768:Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons; D012987:Soil; D012989:Soil Pollutants
keywords: Bioavailability; Gastrointestinal in vitro methods; Persistent organic pollutants (POPs); Risk assessment