The Bioavailability of Contaminants in Soil: Considerations for Human Health Risk Assessment (BCS-1, 2017) guidance describes how to integrate bioavailability information into the human health risk assessment to improve the decision-making process. This document reviews the general concepts of the bioavailability of contaminants in soil, the state of the science, and how to incorporate bioavailability into the human health risk assessment process. This guidance addresses lead, arsenic, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) because evaluating bioavailability is better understood for these chemicals than for others, particularly for the incidental ingestion of soil. This guidance will help regulators, practitioners, and stakeholders understand the tools available, identify methods most appropriate for site conditions, and apply these tools and methods in different scenarios.
Topic(s): Bioavailability, Human Health, Risk Assessment, Risk Communication, Risk Management, Sediments, Soils
