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7002450 
Technical Report 
Bioaccumulation models: State of the application at large superfund sites 
Gustavson, K; Von Stackelberg, T; Linkov, I; Bridges, T 
2011 
Army Engineer Research and Development Center 
Vicksburg, MS 
Report ERDC TN-DOES-R17 
31 
English 
BACKGROUND: Sediment remediation for persistent organic contaminants such as polychlorinated biphenyls is typically conducted on the basis of contamination in fish and risks to those consuming the fish (including humans and wildlife). These contaminated sediment sites, often managed under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Superfund program, can be very large, complex, and expensive to remediate. Food web bioaccumulation models are quite important in determining remedial actions at the sites – they are often used to establish sediment cleanup levels and to compare the effect of various remedial scenarios on fish tissue concentrations. There are no prescribed methods for selecting and applying these methods at contaminated sites; as a result, their application can differ markedly at various sites. This technical note reviews the application of the models at four large contaminated sediment Superfund sites to document the state of the practice and to draw conclusions and recommendations from that combined experience.
INTRODUCTION: The purpose of the Superfund program is to protect human health and the environment from releases of hazardous substances. At contaminated sediment sites, the primary human exposure pathway to contaminants (particularly those sites with persistent hydrophobic contaminants such as PCBs) is through consumption of fish that have accumulated contaminants from the sediment. Sediment remediation is used to achieve a desired risk level associated with the ingestion of contaminated fish tissue; i.e., sediment contaminant concentrations are reduced to reduce fish tissue contaminant concentrations. However, the spatial extent of sediment remediation cannot be established by monitoring fish at a site, so sediment contaminant concentrations are used to delineate areas for remediation. As a result, understanding the relationship between sediment and fish tissue contaminant concentrations is essential to accurately define acceptable levels of sediment contaminant concentrations and to predict the impact remedial actions will have on desired risk levels.