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Quantifying statistical relationships between commonly used in vitro models for estimating lead bioaccessibility

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Abstract

Bioaccessibility to assess potential risks resulting from exposure to Pb-contaminated soils is commonly estimated using various in vitro methods. However, existing in vitro methods yield different results depending on the composition of the extractant as well as the contaminated soils. For this reason, the relationships between the five commonly used in vitro methods, the Relative Bioavailability Leaching Procedure (RBALP), the unified BioAccessibility Research Group Europe (BARGE) method (UBM), the Solubility Bioaccessibility Research Consortium assay (SBRC), a Physiologically Based Extraction Test (PBET), and the in vitro Digestion Model (RIVM) were quantified statistically using 10 soils from long-term Pb-contaminated mining and smelter sites located in Western Australia and South Australia. For all 10 soils, the measured Pb bioaccessibility regarding all in vitro methods varied from 1.9 to 106 % for gastric phase, which is higher than that for intestinal phase: 0.2 ∼ 78.6 %. The variations in Pb bioaccessibility depend on the in vitro models being used, suggesting that the method chosen for bioaccessibility assessment must be validated against in vivo studies prior to use for predicting risk. Regression studies between RBALP and SRBC, RBALP and RIVM (0.06) (0.06 g of soil in each tube, S:L ratios for gastric phase and intestinal phase are 1:375 and 1:958, respectively) showed that Pb bioaccessibility based on the three methods were comparable. Meanwhile, the slopes between RBALP and UBM, RBALP and RIVM (0.6) (0.6 g soil in each tube, S:L ratios for gastric phase and intestinal phase are 1:37.5 and 1:96, respectively) were 1.21 and 1.02, respectively. The findings presented in this study could help standardize in vitro bioaccessibility measurements and provide a scientific basis for further relating Pb bioavailability and soil properties.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the Cooperative Research Centre for Contamination Assessment and Remediation of the Environment (CRC CARE) for funding support, and the Centre for Environmental Risk Assessment and Remediation (CERAR), University of South Australia for the use of their facilities.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cooperative Research Centre for Contamination Assessment and Remediation of the Environment (CRC CARE), Mawson Lakes, SA, 5095, Australia

    Kaihong Yan, Zhaomin Dong, Yanju Liu & Ravi Naidu

  2. Global Center for Environmental Remediation, Faculty of Science and Information Technology, University of Newcastle, ATC Building, Callaghan, NSW, 2308, Australia

    Kaihong Yan, Zhaomin Dong, Yanju Liu & Ravi Naidu

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  1. Kaihong Yan
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  2. Zhaomin Dong
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Correspondence to Ravi Naidu.

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Responsible editor: Marcus Schulz

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Yan, K., Dong, Z., Liu, Y. et al. Quantifying statistical relationships between commonly used in vitro models for estimating lead bioaccessibility. Environ Sci Pollut Res 23, 6873–6882 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-5947-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-5947-8

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