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Diss Factsheets

Environmental fate & pathways

Bioaccumulation: aquatic / sediment

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Administrative data

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Description of key information

The NH4Cl OECD SIDS states that bioaccumulation data are not available because NH3 and / or NH4+ are common ions in the living organisms. However considering nitrification processes, it is unlikely that ammonium raises a bioaccumulation concern for organisms. Consequently, bioaccumulation of NH4F is only related to fluoride, one of the ions in which the substance dissociates easily.
Based on the KF dossier, fluoride accumulates in aquatic organisms predominantly in the exoskeleton of crustacea and in the skeleton of fish. No accumulation was reported for edible tissue.

Key value for chemical safety assessment

Additional information

In freshwater aquatic organisms fluoride accumulates primarily in the exoskeleton of crustacea and in the bones of fish. In fish, the BCF value was between 53 - 58 (d.w.) and <2 (w.w.). In crustacea, BCF value was <1 (d.w.). The highest reported BCF value for mollusca and aquatic macrophyta were 3.2 and 7.5 (w.w) respectively.

In an experimental marine ecosystem with fish, crustaceans and plants, fluor was found to accumulate in all species. The highest value, 149, was found in fish. BCF values for crustacea ranged from 27 to 62 (Hemens and Warwick, 1972) while fluoride concentrations up to 30 mg F/kg were found in consumption fish (Slooff et al., 1988).

The limited data indicate that fluoride biomagnification in the aquatic environment is of little significance. Fluoride accumulates in aquatic organisms predominantly in the exoskeleton of crustacea and in the skeleton of fish. No accumulation was reported for edible tissue.