Biomonitoring

{
  "id": "MLC-T-ENV-003304",
  "term": "Biomonitoring",
  "field": "Environment",
  "definition": "1. The use of living organisms to test the suitability of effluents for discharge into receiving waters and to test the quality of such waters downstream from the discharge.\n\n2. Analysis of blood, urine, tissues, etc., to measure chemical exposure in humans.\n\n3. Use of living organisms as \"sensors\" in environmental quality surveillance to detect changes in environmental conditions that might threaten living organisms in the environment.\n\n4. Use of a biological entity as a detector and its response as a measure to determine environmental conditions. Toxicity tests and ambient biological surveys are common biological monitoring methods.\n\n5. Sampling the biota of a place (such as a stream, a woodlot, or a wetland); use of a biological entity as a detector and its response as a measure to determine environmental conditions. The goal is specifically to measure the improvement or decline of the ecological condition or \"biotic integrity\" of an ecological system. Toxicity tests and ambient biological surveys are common biological monitoring methods.\n\n6. Involves analyzing tissues (including blood and hair), body fluids, excreta, or exhaled air to determine contaminant or biomarker concentrations. [U.S. EPA Guidelines for Exposure Assessment (https://cfpub.epa.gov/ncea/risk/hhra/recordisplay.cfm?deid=15263)]\n\n7. The measurement of human tissues or excreta from biological systems for direct or indirect evidence of exposure to chemical, biological, or radiological substances.",
  "subject": "General environmental",
  "see_also": [
    "Biological Monitoring"
  ],
  "references": [
    "Terms of Env; Terms of Environment; Federal Remediation Technologies Roundtable Glossary",
    "Web Taxonomy-Research,Analysis & Technology Topics; Childrens Health Protection Glossary; Terms of Environment; Federal Remediation Technologies Roundtable Glossary",
    "Waste and Cleanup Risk Assessment Glossary",
    "Aquatic Biodiversity Glossary; Biocriteria Glossary",
    "USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center Glossary",
    "ExpoBox Terminology",
    "Report on the Environment (ROE) Glossary"
  ],
  "url": "https://mlchart.com/terminology/environment/biomonitoring/"
}