Predicting exposure concentrations of chemicals with a wide range of volatility and hydrophobicity in different multi-well plate set-ups

Quantification of chemical toxicity in small-scale bioassays is challenging owing to small volumes used and extensive analytical resource needs. Yet, relying on nominal concentrations for effect determination maybe erroneous because loss processes can significantly reduce the actual exposure. Mechanistic models for predicting exposure concentrations based on distribution coefficients exist but require further validation with experimental data. Here we developed a complementary empirical model framework to predict chemical medium concentrations using different well-plate formats (24/48-well), plate covers (plastic lid, or additionally aluminum foil or adhesive foil), exposure volumes, and biological entities (fish, algal cells), focusing on the chemicals' volatility and hydrophobicity as determinants. The type of plate cover and medium volume were identified as important drivers of volatile chemical loss, which could accurately be predicted by the framework. The model focusing on adhesive foil as cover was exemplary cross-validated and extrapolated to other set-ups, specifically 6-well plates with fish cells and 24-well plates with zebrafish embryos. Two case study model applications further demonstrated the utility of the empirical model framework for toxicity predictions. Thus, our approach can significantly improve the applicability of small-scale systems by providing accurate chemical concentrations in exposure media without resource- and time-intensive analytical measurements.