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Environmental fate & pathways

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It is not appropriate to apply classical concepts (e. g. use of bioconcentration factors; BCF -biomagnification factors; BMF) to an inorganic UVCB substance as they are applied to organic substances. As the oil shale thermal processing residue consist of a multitude of unknown and variable constituents (the essence of an UVCB) then it is technically not possible to determine an overall BCF for this substance.

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) initiated multi-phase laboratory toxicity studies in March 2009 to evaluate potential risks to biota from exposure to the structural related fly ash from the ash release to the river and subsequent dredging. Results from „A Multi-phased Toxicity Study for Evaluating Potential Risks of Kingston Fossil Plant Fly Ash Exposure to Benthic and Aquatic Biota“ ash composite samples indicate no appreciable bioaccumulation of ash (R. Sherrard; Poster, SETAC, 2009 and www.tva.gov)

It can be concluded that a significant bioaccumulation of oil shale thermal processing residue contents is not expected and further bioaccumulation studies are not necessary.