✓ More refereed publications on sports-related concussion have appeared since 2000 than in all previous years combined. Three international consensus statements, documents from the National Athletic Trainers' Association (NATA) and the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), and entire issues of the Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine and the Journal of Athletic Training have been devoted to this subject. The object of this article is to critique the consensus statements and NATA and ACSM documents, pointing out areas of controversy.

In vivo models show that the bioavailability of soil contaminants varies between site and type of matrix. Studies demonstrated that assuming 100% bioavailability of arsenic (As) and lead (Pb) from soils and mine waste materials overestimates the risk associated with human exposure. In in vitro systems, the simulated bioavailability of a contaminant is referred to as the "bioaccessibility" and is used as an alternative quantitative indicator for in vivo derived bioavailability estimates. The general concept of the in vitro extraction test is to predict the bioavailability of inorganic substances from solid matrices by simulating the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) environment. The aims of this study were to: (1) investigate the bioaccessibility of As and Pb from various mine wastes, including tailings, heap leach, and waste rock, using a physiologically based extraction test (PBET); (2) validate the bioaccessibility values from PBET with in vivo bioavailability values measured using animal models; and (3) correlate PBET results with the bioavailability values measured from alternative in vivo models (rats and cattle, from Bruce, 2004). Significant correlation was observed between bioaccessibility values from PBET, and bioavailability values generated for both rats and cattle, demonstrating the potential to utilize PBET as a relatively inexpensive alternative to in vivo models for bioavailability assessment.

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