Bioaccumulation

From Coastal Wiki
Revision as of 09:14, 16 July 2009 by Daphnisd (talk | contribs)
Jump to: navigation, search
Definition of bioaccumulation:
Bioaccumulation is the gradual accumulation of a certain chemical into the living tissue of an organism from its environment. This accumulation may result from direct absorption from the environment or from ingestion of food particles. [1]
This is the common definition for bioaccumulation, other definitions can be discussed in the article

Notes

The concentration of bioacumulation substances usually increases in with the age of an organism. Bioaccumulation is one of the factors used to asses the environmental hazard of a chemical. Chemicals with a higher tendency towards bioaccumulation form a greater hazard. When a substance bioaccumulates at each step of the food chain it will biomagnify [2]


References

  1. http://www.belgochlor.be/nl/B102.htm
  2. Biology of marine birds. Schreiber, E.A. & Burger, J. (Eds). 2002. Boca Raton, Florida: CRC Press. 722 pp.

See also

DDT

Methylmercury

Organochlorine pesticides

Organochlorine compounds

PCB