Recent trends in automatic dynamic leaching tests for assessing bioaccessible forms of trace elements in solid substrates

Accumulation of trace elements in diverse solid compartments and foodstuffs poses social concerns as to the adverse effects on the food webs and exposure risks to humans. This review surveys recent trends in the development of a new methodological approach for risk assessment, called flow-through dynamic extraction, for automatic bioaccessibility tests under worst-case conditions, and how it compares with consolidated batchwise, steady-state leaching methods. We critically describe and illustrate via representative examples novel analytical platforms to overcome the pressure drop in flow systems, the lack of sample representativeness and the sample throughput constraints with the aid of dedicated rugged liquid drivers and appropriate sample containers as a front end to atomic spectrometric detectors.

► Dynamic bioaccessibility tests as a new tool for evaluation of trace-element exposure.
► Critical evaluation of distinct (semi)automatic flow-through extraction techniques.
► Overcoming pressure drop and lack of sample representativeness.
► Overcoming limited sample throughput in evaluation of trace-element exposure.
► Analytical features of relevant papers published since 2005.