Aquatic toxicity

Aquatic toxicity is the harmful effect of a substance on organisms living in freshwater or marine environments. It can occur after brief exposure or prolonged contact.

Dose–response relationship: The relationship between the amount of an agent and the magnitude or probability of its effect. Aquatic toxicity tests use this relationship to quantify how effects change with concentration.
Aquatic toxicology: The study of harmful effects of chemicals and other stressors on aquatic organisms. This broader discipline develops methods for measuring aquatic toxicity.
Aquatic organism: An organism that lives in freshwater or marine environments for some or all of its life. Toxicity depends on the species and life stage exposed.
Bioaccumulation: The buildup of a substance in an organism through all exposure routes over time. Persistent chemicals can accumulate in aquatic organisms and sustain internal exposure.
Human toxicity: The harmful effects of a substance on human health at a given exposure. A chemical’s effects on aquatic species do not by themselves establish its risk to people.
Lethal concentration: The concentration of a substance that kills a specified proportion of test organisms over a stated duration. LC50 values summarize acute lethality in water under defined test conditions.
Ecotoxicology: The study of contaminants and other stressors affecting organisms, populations, communities, and ecosystems. It extends toxicity assessment from individual organisms to ecological consequences.
Environmental toxicant: A substance in the environment capable of causing harmful effects in organisms. Aquatic toxicity is one setting in which environmental toxicants cause biological harm.
Biomagnification: The increase in a substance’s concentration in organisms at successively higher trophic levels. Some contaminants intensify through aquatic food webs, exposing predators to high concentrations.
Aquatic pollution: The introduction of substances or energy into water that degrades its quality or ecosystem condition. Pollution is broader than toxicity and includes harms not caused by direct toxic action.

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