In vivo validation of the unified barge method to assess the bioaccessibility of metals in soils

International audienceThe bioaccessibility research group of Europe (BARGE) has set up a European unified method (Unified Barge Method, UBM) to assess the oral bioaccessibility of potentially harmful elements (PHEs) in soils. This research focuses on the invivo validation of the UBM using a swine model. The relative bioavailability of the PHEs was determined in vivo for 16soils contaminated by either smelting or mining activities. The relative bioaccessibilities of the PHE in the soils were determined using the UBM for both the gastric and the gastro intestinal phases. Correlations between relative bioaccessibilities and bioavailabilities were assessed according to the significance of the r-square and the slope of the regression equations. Results showed that the correlations between the relative bioaccessibility and bioavailability were highly significant both for the gastric and the gastro-intestinal phases, as the slopes of the regression were not significantly different from 1 and the intercept values of the regression being not significantly different from 0. This confirms the ability of the UBM test to assess the bioaccessibility of arsenic, cadmium and lead in contaminated soils