Environmental Bioavailability Handbook Methods and Assessments

Secion 1: Background.  1. Bioavailability and Influencing Factors.  2. Terms and Definitions.  3. Sample Integrity and Avoiding Contamination.  4. Guidance Notes on Quality Assurance and Quality Control.  5. Standard Methods for the Instrumental Analysis of Heavy Metals and Organic Compounds and Ancillary Procedures.  Section 2: Biotic Methods: Measurement of “True Bioavailability”.  6. Environmental Monitoring of Bioavailability Using Caged Bivalve Mollusks.  7. Using Worms for the Measurement of Pollutant Bioavailability.  8. Assessing the Bioavailability of Pollutants using Macrophytes.  9. Measuring Bioavailability Using Whole-Cell Bioreporters.  Section 3: Abiotic Methods: Measurement of Chemoavailability using Chemical Proxies.  10. Chemoavailability of Pollutants Determined by Diffusive Gradients in Thin Films.  11. Tenax Extraction as a Simple Method to Determine the Chemoavailability of Organic Pollutants.  12. Using Chelating Resins for the Measurement of Heavy Metal Bioavailability.  13. Permeation Liquid Membranes as a Tool for Evaluation of Heavy Metal Chemoavailability.  Section 4: Modeling.  14. Introduction to Modeling Bioavailability.  15. Speciation and Biotic Ligand Modeling.  Section 5: Case Studies on the Assessment of Bioavailability.  16. Case Study: Evaluating Organ-ic Diffusive Gradients in Thin-Film Devices as Proxies to Measure Bioavailability of Methamphetamine in Zebrafish.  17. Case Study: Assessing a Two-in-One Whole-Cell Bioreporter Approach for Bioavailability and Toxicity of Cadmium and Lead.

Biography

Xiaokai Zhang completed his PhD at the University of Liverpool, focusing on topics involving bioavailability in environmental risk and impact assessment, the use of environmental biotechnology to measure bioavailability, and risk‑based environmental management interventions. Currently, he is an associate professor at Jiangnan University in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, China, where he continues to work on topics in bioavailability‑based risk and environmental management, as well as the environmental behavior of biochar and remediation of contaminated soils using biochar. His research in his areas of expertise has been published in several book chapters and in notable environmental science journals including Environmental Science & Technology, Water Research, and Environmental Pollution, with some works rated as highly cited papers.

Mona Wells is an interdisciplinary environmental scientist specializing in Environmental Impact Assessment, Environmental Risk Assessment, and environmental management. Her roles have included posts in different locales internationally as an academic and as an environmental practitioner, on projects spanning a broad portfolio including technical project work, research, commercialization, program development, policy advisement, science communication, public consultation, pedagogical development, and continuous improvement.