BIOACCUMULATION: PROCESS, ANTECEDENTS, DERIVED PROBLEMS - ENVIRONMENT - 2024

The bioaccumulation refers to the accumulation of chemicals within a living organism, these coming from the surrounding environment. The most common form of bioaccumulation is generated through the food chain.

The fact that within an organism bioaccumulation is generated has to do with the amount of chemicals that enter it. The ideal scenario occurs when substances ingested by a living being are absorbed faster than they leave the body of this.

Bioaccumulation climbing from one organism to another through the food chain

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Any living thing can be at risk of toxic bioaccumulation if its food source contains some unfavorable chemicals. Smaller beings with bioaccumulation can cause this same condition in predators above them.

Humans can also be victims of the bioaccumulation of harmful chemicals when consuming food. Ingestion may not cause immediate health problems, but they may manifest themselves over time.

The risks of poisoning go hand in hand with the biological lifespan of a toxic chemical. In bioaccumulation, the concentration levels of a chemical agent inside an organism exceed the degree of concentration of this same substance in the outside environment.

The bioaccumulation process

Bioaccumulation begins from the act of consuming. This is the point where some chemical from the environment enters the body, specifically the cells. Then the accumulation of the substance comes into play. This is when the chemicals are directed to the areas of the body with which they can bond.

It is important to understand that each chemical has a different quality of interacting with the interior of the body. For example, chemicals that do not mix well with water tend to move away from it and seek cells with more favorable environments for their development, such as fatty tissues.

On the other hand, if the chemical does not have a strong bond with cells or if consumption of the chemical is stopped, the body may eventually dispose of it.

Elimination is the final stage of the bioaccumulation process. In this part, the body breaks down and possibly excretes some chemical substance. The way in which this elimination occurs depends both on the specific characteristics of a living being and on the type of chemical in question.

Problems due to the bioaccumulation of toxic agents

Chemicals can be found in the environment in different states and the entry of these toxic agents into a living organism can occur in different ways: through the respiratory tract, in the form of food or even through absorption through the skin.

One of the biggest risks of bioaccumulation is caused by persistent chemicals known as those that are difficult to break down.

There are substances such as the insecticide DDT, used after World War II that, despite being banned more than 20 years ago, can still be found in the oceans and animal tissues. Mercury and dioxins are other agents known as persistent chemicals.

Life that develops in aquatic systems is the most prone to bioaccumulation. The oceans have carried heavy loads of chemicals for many decades.

A great variety of microorganisms and fish are carriers of high levels of bioaccumulation that can even affect humans when ingesting food of animal origin.

Bioaccumulation in aquatic ecosystems

The frequency with which chemicals end up on the bottom of the water has generated a constant process of bioaccumulation in aquatic animals. All chemical agents settle at the bottom of the sea or lakes in the form of sediments.

At this point, it is the microorganisms that ingest these particles from the ground as food and initiate the current of bioaccumulation through the normal flow of the food chain.

Microorganisms are, in turn, food for larger organisms such as mollusks, which will be eaten by larger fish. In this way, bioaccumulation goes up in scales until it reaches the top of the food chain: human beings.

If a person regularly eats fish that contain high levels of accumulated chemicals, it could cause bioaccumulation within their being. This does not cause health problems in all cases, but the probability exists.

There is also no way to rule out who may or may not affect bioaccumulation. Cancer and diabetes are some of the diseases that could develop over time.

Many of the chemicals generated by industries end up at the bottom of the sea

Image by Steve Buissinne from Pixabay

Industries have been the main generators of chemical waste that ends up at the bottom of the sea. Different toxic substances can be classified as organic and inorganic.

Some known organic substances are hydrocarbons, chlorine compounds or pesticides. With respect to the inorganic ones, they include mercury, cadmium and lead.

Bioaccumulation history

Many of the factors that have led to water pollution have to do with the development of insecticides throughout history. It could even go back to the discovery of chlorine in the 18th century by the Swede Karl Wilhelm Scheele. However, it was during the 20th century that the growing interest in pesticides in agriculture encouraged the generation of more efficient and toxic products in turn.

One of the most popular chemicals was Dichlor diphenyl trichloroethane (DDT), which during the years of World War II was of great help in controlling pests and diseases such as malaria, typhoid fever and cholera. So at first it looked like a nice product.

It was during the 1960s that some observations regarding the environmental damage that DDT could cause became relevant. Despite this, many countries continued mass production during the 1970s and into the late 1980s. Today, it is still produced in numerous quantities.

References

1. Michigan Department of Community Health. Bioaccumulative Persistent Chemicals. Recovered from michigan.gov
2. Environmental Science Europe (2015). Bioaccumulation in aquatic systems: methodological approaches, monitoring and assessment. Recovered from ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
3. Catalina Island Marine Institute (2017). Bioaccumulation and Biomagnification: Increasingly Concentrated Problems !. Recovered from cimioutdoored.org
4. Lipnick R, Muir D (2000). History of Persistent, Bioaccumulative, and Toxic Chemicals. Persistent. Chapter 1pp 1-12. Recovered from pubs.acs.org
5. Extension Toxicology Network. Bioaccumulation. Oregon State University. Recovered from extoxnet.orst.edu
6. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Bioaccumulation. Recovered from en.wikipedia.org