Advantages and disadvantages of bioaccumulation
Answers
Answer:
Explanation:
Bioaccumulation. Bioaccumulation is the gradual accumulation of substances, such as pesticides, or other chemicals in an organism. ... Thus, the longer the biological half-life of a toxic substance, the greater the risk of chronic poisoning, even if environmental levels of the toxin are not very high.
Explanation:
A primary consideration in the evaluation of chemicals is the potential for substances to be absorbed and retained in an organism's tissues (i.e., bioaccumulated) at concentrations sufficient to pose health concerns. Substances that exhibit properties that enable biomagnification in the food chain (i.e., amplification of tissue concentrations at successive trophic levels) are of particular concern due to the elevated long-term exposures these substances pose to higher trophic organisms, including humans. Historically, biomarkers of in vivo chemical exposure (e.g., eggshell thinning, bill deformities) retrospectively led to the identification of such compounds, which were later categorized as persistent organic pollutants. Today, multiple bioaccumulation metrics are available to quantitatively assess the bioaccumulation potential of new and existing chemicals and identify substances that, upon or before environmental release, may be characterized as persistent organic pollutants.