Bioavailability in effect-directed analysis of organic toxicants in sediments

Ignoring bioavailability in effect-directed analysis (EDA) of sediments may bias prioritization of toxic fractions and compounds towards lipophilic toxic fractions, which are hardly bioavailable. While EDA in benthic organisms is limited to answering specific questions, bioaccessibility-directed extraction (BDE) appears generally applicable as a first step in sediment EDA. However, big differences in the efficiency of such extraction methods suggest the need for standardized criteria to simulate bioaccessibility. The most promising approach to simulate desorption and partitioning and thus bioavailability in sediments may be to combine BDE with partition-based dosing techniques.