Barium chloride

Endpoint summary

Additional information

Data that were retrieved, suggest that barium bioconcentration and bioaccumulation is negligible: the bioaccumulation factor of fish (whole body) was situated between 37.6 and 98.8 (geomean of 4 values: 65.6) (Nakamoto and Hassler, 1992). Whole-body concentrations are significantly higher than reported soft tissue concentrations due to the fact that Ba (like Sr) can replace Ca in the bones and hard tissue parts; indeed, according to the WHO (1990), approximately 91% of Ba found in the body are located in the bones. Reported whole-body Ba-levels in fish were similar in different studies; the following ranges were reported; 5.7-17.2 μg/g (Nakamoto and Hassler, 1992), 4.37 μg/g (Saiki and Palawski, 1990); 5.1-16 μg/g (Schroeder et al, 1988); 4.4-12 (Radtke et al, 1988) and 9-33 μg/g (three fish species; Allen et al, 2001). The data indicate a certain degree of homeostatic control of internal Ba levels by fish. Limited information on transfer of Ba through the food chain indicates that barium does not biomagnify in aquatic food chains.