Bioconcentration factor

Bioconcentration factor is the concentration of a particular chemical in a tissue per concentration of chemical in water (reported as L/kg). This physical property characterizes the accumulation of pollutants through chemical partitioning from the aqueous phase into an organic phase, such as the gill of a fish.

High potential         BCF>1000; Moderate Potential 1000>BCF>250; Low potential       250>BCF.

The bioconcentration factor is related to the octanol-water partition coefficient (Kow) by the following equation:

$$log (BCF) =0.79 log K(ow) - 0.4$$