Bioaccumulation: What it Means to our Ecosystem
Have you ever heard of the term bioaccumulation? If not, it’s time to break it down for you, because it’s affecting your water, your food, and your body.
Bioaccumulation happens when indigestible toxins, like microplastics, heavy metals, and chemicals, build up in an organism’s body over time. These pollutants can enter the water through runoff, wastewater, and litter. They are then absorbed by smaller organisms, like plankton who either filter feed or ingest them directly. As predators eat smaller prey, toxins move up the food chain, becoming more concentrated at each step. For top predators, the toxin intake can be lethal.
Bioaccumulation is the build up of these toxins inside an individual. The transfer of toxins from one animal to the next up the food chain is called biomagnification. Here’s where it gets especially alarming for us as humans: by the time it reaches our bodies (if not directly), what started as microscopic contamination in water has turned into a mixture of toxins on your plate. Do you enjoy eating a local seafood dinner? Well, it could contain harmful levels of pollutants like mercury or microplastics, which accumulate in our bodies just as they do in marine life.
Many of these toxins cannot be broken down or filtered out by natural processes or water treatment systems. They persist in the environment, cycling through ecosystems and back into our lives. Water treatment does not filter these chemicals but our bodies do. We become the filter. This information is not meant to scare you, but give you the information that you need to make conscious decisions and take your power back.
So what can we even do about it? The solution starts with prevention. Reducing the pollutants we send into our water systems and even bring into our house to begin with, is the key. That’s why switching to sustainable, plastic-free products is such an important step.
We can start breaking the cycle of toxification before it even begins.
Our water and food systems are connected. Protecting these systems means making better choices every day. Let’s start now! Laundry detergents may seem harmless, but some of their common ingredients as well as the containers they come in can persist in the environment, partially break down, and bioaccumulate, leading to harmful consequences:
- Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA): Said to be completely water soluble but studies show it is not so simple and can contaminate bodies of water.
- Phosphates: These contribute to algae blooms in waterways, which deplete oxygen levels and threaten aquatic ecosystems. They can cause fish kills and dead zones in our oceans, ponds, and lakes.
- Surfactants: Compounds like nonylphenol ethoxylates (NPEs) break down into toxic substances that disrupt hormonal systems in fish and other wildlife. And YOU.
- Quaternary Ammonium Compounds: Resistant to biodegradation, these chemicals harm algae growth and small aquatic organisms, disrupting the base of the aquatic food web.
- Heavy Metals: Detergents sometimes contain toxic heavy metals like cadmium and arsenic, which can accumulate in water and living organisms.
Environmental Impacts of Bioaccumulation
- Water Pollution: Detergent chemicals pollute water bodies, harming aquatic life and ecosystems. Water is finite, it is recycled. All of the water on Earth has always been there. We need to cherish it in every step of the water cycle.
- Food Chain Contamination: Persistent chemicals accumulate as they move up the food chain, posing long-term risks to wildlife and human health.
Sources:
1. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): Phosphates and Eutrophication
2. U.S. Geological Survey (USGS): Surfactants in Aquatic Ecosystems
3. International Journal of Environmental Research: Impact of Quaternary Ammonium
Compounds on Algae
4. World Health Organization (WHO): Heavy Metals in Water
5. Morgado, R., & Hamers, T. (2021). Ecotoxicological effects of detergents: Understanding
the role of aquatic systems in managing pollution risks. International Journal of
Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(11), 6027.
https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18116027