Use of biomarkers for environmental quality assessment
The assessment of environment quality is a difficult task and requires well-adapted tools. During the last fifteen years, the improvement of biochemical and molecular techniques has made it possible to develop biomarkers as new biological tools for environmental monitoring. A biomarker may be defined as a change that can be observed and/or measured at the molecular, biochemical, cellular, physiological, or behavioural level, and that reveals present or past environmental exposure of an individual to at least one pollutant. A large number of individual parameters fall within this definition. Therefore, a wide range of biomarkers is available to assess nearly every type of pollution occurring in the environment. However, in situ use of biomarkers for evaluating the ecological impact of environmental pollutants still requires conceptual and methodological improvements. The recent introduction of biomarkers in national and international programmes of environmental quality assessment has raised some questions about the actual use of- these biological tools. This book presents examples of the use of biomarkers in the monitoring of terrestrial, freshwater and marine environment quality. These examples are critically analysed by environmental scientists involved in field use of biomarkers. On the basis of this analysis and of fundamental knowledge on possible confusing factors, proposals are made for improvement of the assessment of environmental effects of pollutants using biomarkers. The possibilities of linking biomarker responses with effects of pollutants at higher levels of biological organization are also addressed. The book is aimed at all researchers, environmental consultants, and regulatory personnel involved in various aspects of environmental quality assessment. It will be a useful textbook for teachers and students for courses in ecotoxicology and environmental management.
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Texto biblioteca |
| Language: | eng |
| Published: |
Enfield, New Hampshire, United States Science Publishers
c200
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| Subjects: | Marcadores bioquímicos, Calidad ambiental, Ecotoxicología, Ecosistemas marinos, |
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