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Environmental fate & pathways

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Only field-based bioaccumulation factors based on total As concentrations in organisms and their environment were selected for the assessment of the bioaccumulation of As in aquatic or soil organisms. This ensures that biota As burdens are in equilibrium with As concentrations in their environment and are exposed via all relevant uptake routes.

A total of 206 reliable field-based BAF values were identified for As accumulation in freshwater fish, while 55 BAF values were identified for marine fish. Species mean BAF (sBAF) values for fish range from 0.4 to 1093 L/kg wet weight for 64 freshwater species and between17.5 to 1511 L/kg wet weight for 27 marine species. BAF values significantly decrease with increasing arsenic water concentrations and differ between the freshwater and marine environment. The median of freshwater and saltwater fish species-mean BAF values is 14 L/kg wet weight and 619 L/kg wet weight, respectively. These values are selected for the chemical safety assessment.

Seventy-four field-based biota to soil accumulation factors (BSAF) for As in earthworms were identified, ranging from 0.01 to 1.75, with a median of 0.22 (dry weight based), indicating that earthworms generally accumulated arsenic to levels much lower than those measured in the associated soils. The median BSAF soil-earthworm value of 0.22 (dimensionless, dry weight based) was selected for the chemical safety assessment.

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