The Canadian

Centre for Environmental Modelling and Chemistry

Bioaccumulation Fish Model

This BASIC single organism model treats the steady state uptake and release of an organic chemical by a fish. Both bioconcentration (uptake from the water) and biomagnification (the increase in chemical concentration from food to fish) are included in this bioaccumulation model. The uptake processes are by respiration through the gills and food consumption. The contaminant losses occur by transfer through the gills, by egestion in feces, by metabolic conversion, and by growth dilution. It should be noted that some values in the model are illustrative only and any experimental data available should be substituted.

A more detailed description is provided in "Multimedia Environmental Models; The Fugacity Approach" by D. Mackay, Lewis Publishers, CRC Press. 1991 on pages 211-216.

The required input data are:

Chemical Properties:

  • chemical name
  • molecular mass
  • Henry's Law constant
  • water solubility
  • vapour pressure
  • log Kow
  • metabolic half-life

    • Properties of the Fish and its Environment:

  • volume
  • fish lipid volume fraction
  • food lipid volume fraction
  • gill water resistence time
  • gill organic resistence time
  • gut absorption water resistence
  • gut absorption organic resistence
  • digestion factor
  • growth rate as fraction of volume per day
  • feeding rate as percent of body weight per day
  • suspended particulate matter concentration
  • organic carbon content of suspended matter
  • concentrations of contaminant in the food and water
  • fugacity in food as multiple of fugacity in water

    • Model output includes:

  • Z values for all phases
  • rate constants, D values, and fluxes for all processes
  • steady state fugacities and concentrations for all phases
  • overall rate constant

    • System requirements to run the complied program are minimal.

    Please read the FISH SOFTWARE LICENSE before downloading the software. Use of the software constitutes your agreement to abide by the terms and conditions set out in the license agreement.

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    Last updated August 12, 2011.