Test filter systems are quite helpful to study the persistence of organic compounds in order to give hints for a better remediation of the environment. Therefore special test filters are used in the chemical industry in Germany for more than 20 years in order to determine the microbial bad degradable parts of the dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in the sewage outlets. These test filters can be considered as biological active fixed bed reactors which enable to simulate the biological degradation of organic compounds during an underground passage. It was shown by different investigations, that these test filter systems are well suitable for their expected tasks by determining group parameters. While looking for single compounds they were proven to be such good model systems. For good degradable compounds as e.g., 6-(methyl (phenylsulfonyl) amino)-hexanoic acid (HPS) it could be shown that these substances are microbially degraded on the test filter systems, while the more stable compounds, and an important example for that in Germany is naphthalene-1,5-disulfonic acid, showed a total different behavior. Therefore, the elimination of e.g. napthalene-1,5-disulfonic acid was investigated utilizing labscale filters containing Siran (porous, sintered glass) and activated carbon as support materials for bacteria. However, the different adsorption capacities of activated carbon and Siran had large effects on the measured substrate concentration. Thereby the test filter being run with Siran glass showed to be suitable for modeling the degradation behavior of single compounds during the underground passage. It can be concluded that those test filters can be utilized for studying organic compounds on their behavior as being relevant for water works by means of bad microbial biodegradability

The equilibrium partitioning theory may be used to describe the partitioning of nonionic organic chemicals between water, sediment, and aquatic biota. This paradigm was employed to compare the relative magnitudes of organic carbon-normalized sediment-quality criteria that are intended to protect either benthic organisms from the direct toxic effects of sediment-associated chemicals or humans from the indirect health effects posed by the ingestion of contaminated aquatic animals. Comparison of calculated sediment-quality criteria for a variety of hydrophobic chemicals suggests that human health-based end points often result in more restrictive criteria than aquatic effects-based values. Review of published field data indicates that the equilibrium partitioning paradigm may, depending on contaminant class, either over- or underestimate the extent to which sediment-associated contaminations are bioaccumulated. Despite the limitations of adopting this simple theory for criteria development, calculations reveal that regulatory decisions involving sediments contaminated with such chemicals may be dictated by human health concerns if current risk assessment methodologies are applied.