We can't find the internet
Attempting to reconnect
Something went wrong!
Hang in there while we get back on track
Bioavailability, Bioconcentration, and Biomagnification of Pollutants
AI summary Read the abstract
This textbook chapter introduces the concepts of bioavailability, bioaccumulation, and biomagnification of pollutants in ecosystems, covering contaminants including heavy metals, organic pollutants, and microplastics. It explains how plastics and associated chemicals move up food chains and may ultimately reach humans through diet.
This chapter introduces the negative effects of environmental pollution on the ecosystem and also explores the phenomena of bioavailability, bioconcentration or bioaccumulation, and biomagnification in detail. Initially, the chapter delineates these phenomena along with a basic understanding of scientific concepts of food chain, food web, and trophic levels. The later part of the chapter discusses the ubiquitous pollutants in natural ecosystems. This includes contaminants like metal wastes (heavy metals and radioactive wastes), organic pollutants (agricultural wastes and other pollutants), microplastic wastes, and nanomaterial wastes. This chapter emphasizes the bioavailability, bioconcentration or bioaccumulation, and biomagnification of these pollutants in ecosystems by describing the results obtained from different studies.
More Papers Like This
Environmental Contamination and Food Chain Bioaccumulation
AI summary Read the abstract
This review examines how environmental contaminants, including heavy metals, persistent organic pollutants, and emerging pollutants like micro- and nanoplastics, accumulate through food chains via bioaccumulation and biomagnification. Researchers describe the diverse pathways by which these contaminants enter ecosystems from agricultural runoff, industrial discharge, and waste disposal. The study underscores that continuous human exposure to bioaccumulated toxins may contribute to chronic health concerns.
Bioaccumulation and Biomagnification (The Subtle Processes that Question our Survival)
AI summary Read the abstract
This review synthesizes mechanisms of bioaccumulation and biomagnification in aquatic ecosystems, examining how heavy metals, microplastics, and other toxicants concentrate up food chains and pose escalating risks to ecological balance and human health.
Describing the Accumulation, Concentration, and Amplification Effects of MPs Through the Food Chain
AI summary Read the abstract
This review examines evidence for microplastic accumulation, concentration, and amplification through food chains from primary producers to predators. The authors discuss the degree to which trophic transfer leads to biomagnification of plastic particles and co-adsorbed chemical contaminants, with implications for wildlife and human dietary exposure.
Role of Microplastics in the Biomagnification of PBTs in Marine Organisms
AI summary Read the abstract
This paper reviews how microplastics may facilitate the biomagnification of persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic (PBT) chemicals in marine food webs, given that plastic particles can adsorb and concentrate pollutants. The work highlights microplastics as a potential new vector for introducing toxic chemicals into marine organisms and up through the food chain.
Toxic Enter, Accumulation and Cause Harm Throught Foodchain
AI summary Read the abstract
This chapter examines bioaccumulation and biomagnification of microplastics and toxic substances through marine and terrestrial food chains, tracing the pathway from ocean zooplankton through small and large fish to apex predators including humpback whales and ultimately humans, alongside heavy metal and selenium toxicant biomagnification from soil through vegetables.
Research digests by email
When a large batch of papers lands in the Atlas, we read through it and send a short write-up of what stood out.