Principles and application of an in vivo swine assay for the determination of arsenic bioavailability in contaminated matrices

Abstract

The assessment of arsenic (As) bioavailability from contaminated matrices is a crucial parameter for reducing the uncertainty when estimating exposure for human health risk assessment. In vivo assessment of As utilising swine is considered an appropriate model for human health risk assessment applications as swine are remarkably similar to humans in terms of physiology and As metabolism. While limited in vivo As bioavailability data is available in the literature, few details have been provided regarding technical considerations for performing in vivo assays. This paper describes, with examples, surgical, experimental design and analytical issues associated with performing chronic and acute in vivo swine assays to determine As bioavailability in contaminated soil and food.