Environmental health and risk assessment metrics with special mention to biotransfer, bioaccumulation and biomagnification of environmental pollutants

Abstract

The environment pollutants, which are landed up in environment because of human activities like urbanization, mining and industrializations, affects human health, plants and animals. The living organisms present in environment are constantly affected by the toxic pollutants through direct contact or bioaccumulation of chemicals from the environment. The toxic and hazardous pollutants are easily transferred to different environmental matrices like land, air and water bodies such as surface and ground waters. This comprehensive review deeply discusses the routes and causes of different environmental pollutants along with their toxicity, impact, occurrences and fate in the environment. Environment health and risk assessment tools that are used to evaluate the harmfulness, exposure of living organisms to pollutants and the amount of pollutant accumulated are explained with help of bio-kinetic models. Biotransfer, toxicity factor, biomagnification and bioaccumulation of different pollutants in the air, water and marine ecosystems are critically addressed. Thus, the presented survey would be collection of correlations those addresses the factors involved in assessing the environmental health and risk impacts of distinct environmental pollutants.

Keywords: Bio-magnification; Bioaccumulation; Biotransfer; Risk; Ruinous.