Ecotoxicology


Ecotoxicology is the study of the effects of toxic chemicals on biological organisms, especially at the population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere levels. Ecotoxicology is a multidisciplinary field, which integrates toxicology and ecology.
The ultimate goal of ecotoxicology is to reveal and predict the effects of pollution within the context of all other environmental factors. Based on this knowledge the most efficient and effective action to prevent or remediate any detrimental effect can be identified. In those ecosystems that are already affected by pollution, ecotoxicological studies can inform the choice of action to restore ecosystem services, structures, and functions efficiently and effectively.
Ecotoxicology differs from environmental toxicology in that it integrates the effects of stressors across all levels of biological organisation from the molecular to whole communities and ecosystems, whereas environmental toxicology includes toxicity to humans and often focuses upon effects at the organism level and below.

History

The publication in 1962 of Rachel Carson's seminal volume, Silent Spring catalyzed the separation of environmental toxicology – and, subsequently, ecotoxicology – from classical toxicology. The revolutionary element in Carson's work was her extrapolation from single-organism effects to effects at the whole ecosystem and the "balance of nature"
The term "ecotoxicology" was coined by René Truhaut in 1969 who defined it as "the branch of toxicology concerned with the study of toxic effects, caused by natural or synthetic pollutants, to the constituents of ecosystems, animal, vegetable and microbial, in an integral context”
Although initially focused on the study of synthetic chemicals such as polychlorinated biphenyls and naturally occurring chemicals that are commonly emitted by human activities, the term is now used to describe studies of the ecological effects of diverse abiotic and biotic agents. An example of a current ecotoxicological problem is ocean acidification resulting from increased dissolution of carbon dioxide into the surface waters of the oceans and interfering with ionic regulation in marine organisms It has been proposed that this broadening of focus from purely toxicological effects to the consideration of more general stressors moves beyond the definition of "ecotoxicology". Van Straalen, in particular, argued that the field had diversified to become Stress Ecology. However, that term has not been broadly adopted.

Common environmental toxicants

Chemicals are shown to prohibit the growth of seed germination of an arrangement of different plant species. Plants are what make up the most vital trophic level of the biomass pyramids, known as the primary producers. Because they are at the bottom of the pyramid, every other organism in an ecosystem relies on the health and abundance of the primary producers in order to survive. If plants are battling problems with diseases relating to exposure to chemicals, other organisms will either die because of starvation or obtain the disease by eating the plants or animals already infected. So ecotoxicology is an ongoing battle that stems from many sources and can affect everything and everyone in an ecosystem

Ways of prevention

Regulation:
Total amount of acute toxicity is directly related to the classification of toxicity.
< 1 part per million → Class I
1–10 parts per million → Class II
10–100 parts per million → Class III