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Ecotoxicology is a relatively new scientific discipline. Indeed, it
might be argued that it is only during the last 5-10 years that it
has come to merit being regarded as a true science, rather than a
collection of procedures for protecting the environment through
management and monitoring of pollutant discharges into the
environment. The term 'ecotoxicology' was first coined in the late
sixties by Prof. Truhaut, a toxicologist who had the vision to
recognize the importance of investigating the fate and effects of
chemicals in ecosystems. At that time, ecotoxicology was considered
a sub-discipline of medical toxicology. Subsequently, several
attempts have been made to portray ecotoxicology in a more
realistic light. Notably, both F. Moriarty (1988) and F. Ramade
(1987) emphasized in their books the broad basis of ecotoxicology,
encompassing chemical and radiation effects on all components of
ecosystems. In doing so, they and others have shifted concern from
direct chemical toxicity to man, to the far more subtle effects
that pollutant chemicals exert on natural biota. Such effects
potentially threaten the existence of all life on Earth. Although I
have identified the sixties as the era when ecotoxicology was first
conceived as a coherent subject area, it is important to
acknowledge that studies that would now be regarded as
ecotoxicological are much older. Wherever people's ingenuity has
led them to change the face of nature significantly, it has not
escaped them that a number of biological con sequences, often
unfavourable, ensue."
"Gradually, a faint brightness appeared in the east, and the air,
which had been very warm through the night, felt cool and chilly.
Though there was no daylight yet, the darkness was diminished, and
the stars looked pale. The prison, which had been a mere black mass
with little shape or form, put on its usual aspect; and ever and
anon a solitary watchman could be seen upon its roof, stopping to
look down upon the preparations in the street . . . By and by the
feeble light grew stronger, and the houses with their sign-boards
and inscriptions stood plainly out, in the dull grey morning . . .
And now, the sun's first beams came glancing into the street; and
the night's work, which, in its various stages and in the varied
fancies of the lookers-on had taken a hundred shapes, wore its own
proper form - a scaffold and a gibbet . . . " (The Complete Works
of Charles Dickens, Harper & Brothers, New York and London,
Barnaby Rudge, Vol. II, Chapter XIX, page 164. ) Dickens describes
an activity which takes place in the early morning hours, just
before sunrise. As the day begins and people start to go about
their business and get ready to watch the hanging, the hangman is
ready with the gallows.
Biological markers used to assess the effects of environmental
pollution have attracted considerable attention from regulatory
agencies and are currently under evaluation at a number of research
facilities throughout the world. However promising a
biomarker-based biomonitoring approach may be, the development of
this concept is complicated by a range of technical issues. This
book provides a conceptional framework for research and application
of biomarkers. International experts on biomonitoring have
formulated a unified strategy for the development and validation of
biomarkers in assessing environmental health as well as appropriate
protocols for their implementation and interpretation in a
biological monitoring program.
Many areas of Eastern Europe have been polluted to an extent
unknown in the West. Four such sites - Kola Peninsula, northern
Bohemia, upper Vistula Basin, and Katowice - have been identified
and detailed accounts of the pollution at these sites are given.
The current status of the use of biomarkers in hazard assessment is
given by several scientists from NATO countries. Four working
groups, comprising scientists working on the polluted sites and
western scientists with expertise in biomarkers, examine the use of
biomarkers to assess the environmental health of each of these
areas and make recommendations on the future direction of remedial
action in these areas.
More than 32 years ago, Rachel Carson's Silent Spring appeared upon
the scene as a landmark of literary achievement which contributed
greatly to the foundation of the modern environmental movement.
Rachel Carson had designed Silent Spring to shock the public into
action against the misuse of chemical pesticides. More than
anything else, the book also served as an ecological primer,
demonstrating the interrelationship of all things and the
dependence of each on a healthy environment for survival. Today,
Silent Spring is generally credited with providing impetus to the
whole range of anti-pollution laws that came into force in the
1970s. It is also perceived as having played a crucial role in the
eventual banning of DDT as well as in the restricted use or total
phasing out of the most notorious hard pesticides identified in the
book. The vigorous growth of the chemical industry geared to the
production of newer and ever more powerful pesticides can be traced
to the introduc tion of the organochlorine insecticide DDT in the
1940s. These pesticides were meant not only to control insects but
also animal pests, disease and weeds. Initially their development
was based on the belief that they would provide a definitive
solution to pest and vector problems."
More than 32 years ago, Rachel Carson's Silent Spring appeared upon
the scene as a landmark of literary achievement which contributed
greatly to the foundation of the modern environmental movement.
Rachel Carson had designed Silent Spring to shock the public into
action against the misuse of chemical pesticides. More than
anything else, the book also served as an ecological primer,
demonstrating the interrelationship of all things and the
dependence of each on a healthy environment for survival. Today,
Silent Spring is generally credited with providing impetus to the
whole range of anti-pollution laws that came into force in the
1970s. It is also perceived as having played a crucial role in the
eventual banning of DDT as well as in the restricted use or total
phasing out of the most notorious hard pesticides identified in the
book. The vigorous growth of the chemical industry geared to the
production of newer and ever more powerful pesticides can be traced
to the introduc tion of the organochlorine insecticide DDT in the
1940s. These pesticides were meant not only to control insects but
also animal pests, disease and weeds. Initially their development
was based on the belief that they would provide a definitive
solution to pest and vector problems."
Ecotoxicology is a relatively new scientific discipline. Indeed, it
might be argued that it is only during the last 5-10 years that it
has come to merit being regarded as a true science, rather than a
collection of procedures for protecting the environment through
management and monitoring of pollutant discharges into the
environment. The term 'ecotoxicology' was first coined in the late
sixties by Prof. Truhaut, a toxicologist who had the vision to
recognize the importance of investigating the fate and effects of
chemicals in ecosystems. At that time, ecotoxicology was considered
a sub-discipline of medical toxicology. Subsequently, several
attempts have been made to portray ecotoxicology in a more
realistic light. Notably, both F. Moriarty (1988) and F. Ramade
(1987) emphasized in their books the broad basis of ecotoxicology,
encompassing chemical and radiation effects on all components of
ecosystems. In doing so, they and others have shifted concern from
direct chemical toxicity to man, to the far more subtle effects
that pollutant chemicals exert on natural biota. Such effects
potentially threaten the existence of all life on Earth. Although I
have identified the sixties as the era when ecotoxicology was first
conceived as a coherent subject area, it is important to
acknowledge that studies that would now be regarded as
ecotoxicological are much older. Wherever people's ingenuity has
led them to change the face of nature significantly, it has not
escaped them that a number of biological con sequences, often
unfavourable, ensue."
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