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ecotoxicology Definition: study of impacts of pollutants on the structure and function of ecosystems
Environmental toxicology is a new discipline that grew out of studies on the environmental fate and transport of pesticides in the 1940s and 1950s The discipline toxicology is as old as medicine many toxic plant chemicals are used as therapeutic agents in medicine. The term ecotoxicology appeared in the literature in 1969 Field was pioneered by Rachel Carson
Rachel Carson
1907-1964 Marine Biologist from Pennsylvania MA from Johns Hopkins U. Author of Silent Spring Received much attention, because she wrote and presented scientific facts well She was disturbed by the widespread and indiscriminate use of pesticides Many of these pesticides were known to affect wildlife e.g. kill birds She lobbied very hard to control and ban certain highly toxic chemicals Testified before congress in 1963 and called for new policies with respect to human health and the environment
First piece of environmental legislation was the National Environmental Policy Act
1970 Created the EPA Initially 5000 employees (1970) Budget of 1.3 B In 1995 there were >18,000 employees, budget of 7.2 B USA is divided into 10 management regions
Definition : XENOBIOTIC
a chemical that is foreign to the biosphere i.e. is not produced by a natural biological or abiotic source Also called anthropogenic, man-made, synthetic, pollutant, contaminant, recalcitrant, persistent, and toxicant Distinguishes between quantity and scale Gordon Gribble e.g. studied the natural occurrence of organohallogens (chlorbenzoates in fungi) this is different from large scale chemical processes for the production of PCBs BTEX is an acronym for benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xzylene natural ??
Field work
Field observations of reproduction and survival in polluted vs. non-polluted sites
Modeling of fate and transport of toxicants in the environment i.e. exposure and risk assessment
Static models Strategic models Testable models : short term modeling of ecosystems : model of a specific aspect of a system : model makes predictions that can be tested in the field or laboratory
site of action
physiology behavior
community parameters
Introduction of xenobiotic
Ecosystem effect
biotransformation
biochemistry
population dynamics
Introduction of xenobiotic
Ecosystem effect
Stress proteins Population density enzyme induction Metabolic indicators Productivity Glutathione S Transferase Acetylcholinesterase inhibition Mating success Mixed Functional Oxidases Adenyl energy charge Fecundity Hydrolases Metallothionen production Genetic alterations DNA repair mechanisms Immuno suppression Competitive alterations
COOH
CH2
O N
N HC
O
HN
CH
CH S
Bioaccumulation
The storage of a compound in fatty tissue of an animal Result of food chain / trophic levels
Biotransformation
Metabolic processes, mainly by environmental bacteria, that alter the structure and toxicity of a compound
Biodegradation
Breakdown of a xenobiotic to CO2 and water
Population success
Population age structure xenobiotics often exert a stronger effect on juveniles => a shift in age structure might indicate that a population is not doing well, because it is affected by a xenobiotic Shift in bacterial communities contamination reduces bacterial diversity; bacterial numbers often increase because the contaminant is food for some while it is toxic for others
Community effects
Species diversity Abundance Distribution
Ecosystem effects
Productivity Trophic level structure Stability