Article in Chemosphere :  Rethinking soil contamination assessment for urban brownfield management: from total hazard to bioavailability.

Rachel Seillier, Frédéric Paran, Benjamin Pauget, Cédric Challaye, Steve Peuble, Frédéric Gallice, Jérémie Riquier, Baptiste Bouillot, Olivier Faure

Part of the abstract : 

Hazard identification at contaminated sites usually rely on total concentrations of potentially toxic elements (PTE), but it is largely admitted that only the bioavailable fraction can trigger adverse effects. Assessing total PTE amounts is thus a worst-case scenario, that overestimates environmental risks and often leads to costly remediation actions. This study presents a practical and cost-effective methodology for assessing soil contamination by PTE, taking into account their bioavailability. To address this issue, we performed a three-tiered hazard identification considering: (1) total hazard (total PTE content), (2) environmentally available hazard (CaCl₂ leachable fraction), and (3) environmentally bioavailable hazard (accumulation in plant leaves). 

Full abstract and article