American Chemical Society, Environmental Science and Technology, 4(50), p. 1914-1923, 2016
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The potential to bioconcentrate is generally considered to be an unwanted property of a substance. Consequently, chemical legislation, including the European REACH regulations, requires the chemical industry to provide bioconcentration data for chemicals that are produced or imported at volumes exceeding 100 tons per annum, or if there is a concern that a substance is persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic. To fill the existing data gap for chemicals produced or imported at levels that are below this stipulated volume, without the need for additional animal experiments, physiologically based toxicokinetic (PBTK) models can be used to predict whole-body and tissue concentrations of neutral organic chemicals in fish. PBTK models have been developed for many different fish species, with promising results. In this study, we developed PBTK models for zebrafish (Danio rerio) and roach (Rutilus rutilus) and combined them with existing models for rainbow trout (Onchorhynchus mykiss), lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) and fathead minnow (Pimephales promelas). The resulting multi-species model framework allows for cross-species extrapolation of the bioaccumulative potential of neutral organic compounds. Predictions were compared with experimental data and were accurate for most substances. Our model can be used for probabilistic risk assessment of chemical bioaccumulation, with particular emphasis on cross-species evaluations.