bioaccumulation

The concentration of a particular substance in a living organism, possibly with harmful effects. The likelihood of this occurring is expressed as the bioaccumulation potential and can be estimated by the octanol/water partition coefficient, expressed as logP_OW. This test is commonly required on drilling fluid additives in the North Sea area and other countries following the Oslo and Paris Commission (OSPAR) regulations. Values of logP_OW below 3 indicate no bioaccumulation tendency; values between 3 and 6 indicate that bioaccumulation is possible, providing the substance is small enough to pass through the cell wall (mol. wt. < 600). This may be confirmed by a bioconcentration test in which a population of animals is exposed to the product.