Ecotoxicological Effects

Ecotoxicology is the study of toxic effects of substances on species in ecosystems and involves knowledge of three main disciplines: toxicology, ecology and chemistry (Figure 7.1). Truhaut [2] coined the term ecotoxicology and included effects on humans in his definition, man being part of ecosystems. The current tendency is to include the effects of chemicals on all species in the biosphere in the definition of ecotoxicology [3]. However, in this section, we will not consider effects on man. Environmental risk assessment (ERA) shares many methodological aspects with human health risk assessment (HRA). However, there are a number of fundamental differences between ERA and HRA related to the scope of ERA which covers ecosystems and the biosphere. Fundamental aspects of ERA are discussed in the next section.