Bioaccumulation
Textbook: BC Science 10 pp. 92-99
Terms
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- BPA
- bisphenol A; an endocrine disruptor; a POP banned in baby bottles
- DDT
- insecticide, dichlorodiphenyl trichloroethane; a banned POP
- Rhodococcus
- soil bacterium that can biodegrade PCBs
- pesticides
- chemicals used to eliminate pests
- half-life
- time it takes for the amount of a substance to decrease by half
- red tide
- algae bloom; turns sea water red and produces toxic organic chemicals
- biomagnification
- accumulated chemicals becoming more concentrated at each trophic level
- Pb
- lead, a heavy metal present in consumer electronics
- ppm
- parts per million; measure of chemical accumulation
- bioremediation
- biodegradation of chemical pollutants
- heavy metals
- high density metallic elements toxic to organisms at low concentrations
- insecticides
- kill insects
- herbivore
- plant eater
- carnivore
- meat eater
- Cd
- cadmium, a heavy metal inhaled with tobacco smoke
- pollutant
- chemical that contaminates air, soil or water
- synthetic
- man-made, artificial
- poplar
- tree that absorbs and traps heavy metals in its tissues
- Hg
- mercury, a heavy metal released when coal is burned
- PCB
- polychlorinated biphenyl (POP)
- POPs
- persistant organic pollutants with long half-lives e.g. PCBs, DDT, BPA
- herbicides
- kill weeds
- amphibians
- sensitive to effects of chemical run-off and other pollutants in water
- keystone species
- can greatly affect population numbers and ecosystem health
- bioaccumulation
- gradual build-up of synthetic and organic chemicals in living organisms