ET Ecotoxicity

(a message field)

The ET field is displayed in records but is not searchable and contains the following text:

ECOTOXICITY (USE CODE ZECO).

Its purpose is to act as a record section delimiter. The Ecotoxicity superfield (ZECO) is associated with this message field.

Information is presented on the effects of chemicals on various ecosystems. Results of studies carried out on aquatic species, primarily fish and invertebrates, but also fresh water and marine micro-organisms and plants are reported. Persistence and potential for accumulation in the environment and any available information on the harmful effects to non-target species, i.e. the unintentional exposure of terrestrial and/or aquatic species to a toxic substance is given.

Ecotoxicology can be defined as that science involved in the study of the production of harmful effects on populations, communities and ecosystems; or as the study of the effects of chemicals on ecosystems and their non human components. An essential part of the ecotoxicology is the assessment of movement of potentially toxic imbalance through environmental compartments and through food webs [Ref. IPCS Training Manual appendix 2]. Ecotoxicology is a combination of chemistry, ecology and toxicology.

Ecotoxicology, unlike human toxicology, is more concerned with the effects to populations than to individuals. Human toxicology is based on the extrapolation of data from many species to one species, namely man; whereas ecotoxicology necessitates the extrapolation from a few species to many; or from limited field data to entire ecosystems. [Ref. Ecotoxicology Monitoring, Richardson M.L. (Ed.) VCH Publishers, Weinheim, 1993, pp 384].

Ecotoxicology must not be confused with environmental toxicology which is the direct effects of environmental chemicals to humans [Ref. IPCS Training Manual]. The term environmental toxicology should only be applied to study of direct effects of environmental chemicals on human beings. Although the main thrust of preventative toxicology is in the area of human health, it is becoming increasingly evident that human health is intimately connected with conditions in the natural environment. Chemicals released into the environment far from human habitation may become a health hazard for humans through food chain accumulation. Other chemicals may affect adversely crop growth or kill economically important fish stocks or bird life.