Eco toxicology

- study of the effects of chemicals on biological

organisms, particularly at the ecosystem level

- concerned ultimately with the effects of pollutants

on populations not individuals

• Study of the toxic effects of chemical and physical

agents on all living organisms, especially on
populations and communities in ecosystems;

it includes transfer pathways of these contaminants

and their interactions with the environment.

Contaminants

• This could be in a form solid, liquid, or gaseous

matter occurring, as a result of human activities

After entering the environment, chemicals are

transported, distributed over the various
environmental compartments and may be
transformed into other chemicals.

Transport can occur within a compartment, such as

in air or in soil, or between compartments

• Air - Water

•Volatilization (Vaporization) process of converting a

chemical substance from a liquid or solid state to a
gaseous or vapor state.

Example: Vehicular emissions from automobiles.

Burning of fuel like kerosene or lead.

These chemicals emitted into the air, where wind

and weather can carry it over long distances.
Eventually, airborne chemicals fall onto the land or
into the water, sometimes in the form of dry particles
and sometimes attached to rain, in the form of
precipitation
• Soil - Air

•Volatilization

rain-out
Removal of Contaminants from air by incorporation
into developing rain droplets of rain clouds.

Example: Spraying of pesticides and insecticides on

plants,

• Soil - Water

Leaching are when the Chemical Substances are

drained away from the soil caused by Liquid
specially rainwater

Example: Soil from Farmlands or Agricultural Areas

that their soil was contaminated by heavy metals,

organic chemicals such as pesticides. Those
chemicals will be attached to the soil what we called
Run-offs caused by rainfall on the land that
ultimately washed and reaches to rivers streams
and, eventually, the sea.

Sources of Contaminants

Industries ( Gas, Aerosols and other Liquid

Substance)

Mining (lead, mercury, etc), Deforestation

(Kaingin), Transportation (Emissions) and
Constructions (Thinner, earosol cans, lead and
etc).

Habitations (Canals)

War Activities (Nuclear Weapons , Rockets,

Missiles, and Explosives) Contains Carcinogenic
substances.
•Natural

Metallic Ions (Materials Used in Welding such as

Chromium) and Batteries (such as Cadmium)

Mycotoxins (toxins produced by certain moulds

(fungi) and can be found in food or on different
crops)

Volcanic Activities (Ash itself can Poison the

Water, Crops and Land)

It would even likely to result acid rain especially if the

volcano is near the water bodies such as lake.