Bioaccumulation

{
  "id": "MLC-T-ENV-003118",
  "term": "Bioaccumulation",
  "field": "Environment",
  "definition": "1. General term describing a process by which chemicals are taken up by an organism either directly from exposure to a contaminated medium or by consumption of food containing the chemical.\n\n2. The process by which a contaminant accumulates in the tissues of an organism.\n\n3. The process by which a compound is taken up by an aquatic organism, both from water and through food.\n\n4. A process where chemicals are retained in fatty body tissue and increase in concentration over time.\n\n5. The retention and concentration of a substance by an organism.\n\n6. Increased concentrations of a chemical in an organism compared to the surrounding environment\n\n7. The uptake and storage of chemical contaminants by living animals and plants. This can occur through direct contact with contaminated water or sediment or through the ingestion of another organism that is contaminated. For example, a small fish might eat contaminated algae, a bigger fish might eat several contaminated fish and a human might eat a bigger, now-contaminated fish. Contaminants typically increase in concentration as they move up the food chain.\n\n8. The process by which a contaminant accumulates in the tissues of an individual organism. For example, certain chemicals on food eaten by a fish tend to accumulate in its liver and other tissues.\n\n9. The retention and buildup of chemicals or hazardous substances in the bodies of organisms due to repeated exposure or consuming contaminated organisms lower on the food chain.\n\n10. Refers to the process by which contaminants such as PCBs accumulate or become magnified as they move up the food chain. PCBs concentrate in tissue and internal organs, and as big fish eat little fish, they accumulate all the PCBs that have been eaten by everyone below them in the food chain. Another term for this is Biological Magnification.\n\n11. Bioaccumulation is the general term describing a process by which chemicals are taken up by a plant or animal either directly from exposure to a contaminated medium (soil, sediment, water) or by eating food containing the chemical. Related terms are bioconcentration in which chemicals are absorbed by an animal or plant to levels higher than the surrounding environment; and biomagnification, in which chemical levels in plants or animals increase from transfer through the food web (e.g., predators have greater concentrations of a particular chemical than their prey).\n\n12. The process in which a substance is taken up by an aquatic organism through any route, including respiration, ingestion, or direct contact with water or sediment.\n\n13. The net accumulation of a substance by an organism as a result of uptake from all environmental sources. As an organism ages, it can accumulate more of these substances, either from its food or directly from the environment. Bioaccumulation of a toxic substance has the potential to cause harm to organisms, particularly to those at the top of the food chain.\n\n14. The net accumulation of a substance by an organism as a result of uptake from and or all routes of exposure (e.g., ingestion of food, intake of drinking water, direct contact, or inhalation).\n\n15. General term describing a process by which chemicals are taken up by a plant or animal either directly from exposure to a contaminated medium (soil, sediment, water) or by eating food containing the chemical. Related terms are bioconcentration in which chemicals are absorbed by an animal or plant to levels higher than the surrounding environment; and biomagnification, in which chemical levels in plants or animals increase from transfer through the food web (e.g., predators have greater concentrations of a particular chemical than their prey). [Ecological Risk Assessment Glossary of Terms]The process whereby certain toxic substances collect in living tissues, thus posing a substantial hazard to human health or the environment. [RAIS 2004, SRA 2004]\n\n16. Net accumulation of a substance by an organism as a result of uptake from all environmental sources. [40 CFR 132.2]\n\n17. Uptake and storage of chemical contaminants by living animals and plants. This can occur through direct contact with contaminated water or sediment or through the ingestion of another organism that is contaminated. For example, a small fish might eat contaminated algae, a bigger fish might eat several contaminated fish and a human might eat a bigger, now-contaminated fish. Contaminants typically increase in concentration as they move up the food chain.\n\n18. The net accumulation of a substance by an organism as a result of uptake from and or all routes of exposure (e.g., ingestion of food, intake of drinking water, direct contact, or inhalation). [EPA 2004]\n\n19. A process where chemicals are retained in fatty body tissue and increase in concentration over time. [EPA 2005e]\n\n20. Retention and concentration of a pollutant in an organism or in the food chain.\n\n21. progressive increase in the amount of a substance in an organism or part of an organism, which occurs because the rate of intake exceeds the organism's ability to remove the substance from the body.\n\n22. The uptake of a substance from an environmental medium through all routes, including food chain transfers. For example, accumulation of substances can occur through ingestion of contaminated plants or animals.\n\n23. Bioaccumulation is the retention and concentration of a pollutant in an organism or in the food chain.",
  "subject": "Water",
  "references": [
    "Waste and Cleanup Risk Assessment Glossary",
    "Watershed Protection Glossary",
    "Sediment Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) Glossary",
    "Pesticides Glossary; EPA 2005e",
    "Drinking Water Technical & Legal Terms",
    "Chemical Emergency Preparedness and Prevention Glossary",
    "Chesapeake Bay Glossary",
    "Urban Watershed Management Research Terminology",
    "Superfund for Students and Teachers Glossary",
    "Hudson River PCBs Glossary of Terms",
    "Ecological Risk Assessment Glossary of Terms",
    "Contaminated Sediments Glossary & Acronyms",
    "Lake Erie Lakewide Management Plan (LaMP) Glossary",
    "EPA 2004",
    "Thesaurus of Terms Used in Microbial Risk Assessment",
    "40 CFR Appendix B to Part 132",
    "How's My Waterway Glossary",
    "EPA's Safer Choice Standard (February 2015) https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2013-12/documents/standard-for-safer-products.pdf",
    "ExpoBox Terminology; EPA ExpoBox Terminology"
  ],
  "url": "https://mlchart.com/terminology/environment/bioaccumulation/"
}