Biomagnification

A hypothetical example of the biomagnification of mercury in water up through the food chain and into a wading bird's eggs. Figure Source: Is Mercury the Achilles Heel of the Restoration Effort?, South Florida Restoration Science Forum

Biomagnification is the bioaccumulation of a substance up the food chain by transfer of residues of the substance in smaller organisms that are food for larger organisms in the chain. It generally refers to the sequence of processes that results in higher concentrations in organisms at higher levels in the food chain (at higher trophic levels). These processes result in an organism having higher concentrations of a substance than is present in the organism’s food. Biomagnification can result in higher concentrations of the substance than would be expected if water were the only exposure mechanism. Accumulation of a substance only through contact with water is known as bioconcentration.

More Information

• Biodynamic Model is Unraveling the Complexities of Metal Bioaccumulation from Contaminated Sediments
• National Assessment of Mercury in Aquatic Ecosystems, Includes information on the bioaccumulation of mercury in fish.
• New Method for Assessing Bed Sediment Contamination
• Mercury Toxicity in the Food Chain, South Florida Restoration Science Forum
• Tracing Foodweb Relations and Fish Migratory Habits in the Everglades with Stable Isotope Techniques, South Florida Restoration Science Forum
• The Countering Contamination: Data and DDE, A teaching curriculum that introduces high school students to the basics of ecotoxicology, bioaccumulation, and biomagnification.

References

• International Union of Pure And Applied Chemistry (IUPAC), 1993, Glossary For Chemists Of Terms Used In Toxicology: Pure and Applied Chemistry, v. 65, no. 9, p. 2003-2122 (on-line version posted by the U.S. National Library of Medicine).
• IUPAC, 1996, Glossary of Terms Relating to Pesticides: Pure Applied Chemistry, v. 68, no. 5, p. 1167-1193.
• Spacie, A., McCarty, L.S., and Rand, G.M., 1995, Bioaccumulation and bioavailability in multiphase systems, chapter 16 in Rand, G.M., ed., Fundamentals of Aquatic Toxicology, 2d ed.: Washington, D.C., Taylor and Francis, p. 493-521.
• Nowell, L.H., Capel, P.D., and Dileanis, P.D., 1999, Pesticides in stream sediment and aquatic biota--distribution, trends, and governing factors: Boca Raton, Fla., Lewis Publishers, 1001 p.

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