The need for field and laboratory studies of the physical and chemical behavior of environmentally significant organic molecules often poses problems because of the toxicity of the chemical and the difficulty of detecting it at environmentally significant concentrations. Two dysprosium tracers, dysprosium (III) trisacetylacetonate trihydrate and dysprosium(III) trisdibenzoylmethane monohydrate, were developed to mimic the physical and chemical behavior of toxic organic chemicals. Their stability in sea water and their bioconcentration behavior with the European oyster, Ostrea edulis were tested. A correlation between their n-octanol/water partition coefficient and bioconcentration factors was established. The behavior of dysprosium (III) trisdibenzoylmethane monohydrate as a Stable Activable Tracer for carbon tetrachloride was assessed in a laboratory experiment
