Biomagnification Explained
Pollution Accumulating in Your Dinner – Biomagnification Explained
When the landmark book Silent Spring was released in the 1960s, it was the first time the public
was made aware of the dangers of chemical bio-magnification. In this particular case it was
birds of prey accumulating massive amounts of DDT in their bodies that resulted in their
inability to reproduce because of soft egg shells.
Since then, this has been observed in nearly every higher order creature on Earth with one
chemical or another. Human beings are not immune. The affinity that some of the most dangerous
chemicals have for lipids causes them to accumulate in fatty tissues. Any creature that eats
another can easily take these toxins into their own bodies where they are also stored in fat
tissues, often causing drastically higher levels of body-toxins than are observed in simpler
organisms that are lower on the food chain.
Who ever thought that it might be a good thing to be lower in the food chain? Just think, you
could have drastically lower body-toxins.
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October 24th, 2008