Ecotoxicology is the scientific discipline that studies the fate and effects of chemical, physical, and biological stressors on organisms, populations, communities, and ecosystems in the environment. It integrates toxicology, ecology, environmental chemistry, and risk assessment to quantify exposure, dose–response relationships, and adverse outcome pathways under realistic environmental conditions. Ecotoxicology addresses contaminant transport, transformation, bioavailability, bioaccumulation, and biomagnification across trophic levels, and evaluates sublethal endpoints such as endocrine disruption, behavioral changes, and reproductive impairment. The field underpins environmental quality criteria, ecological risk assessment, and regulatory decision-making for pollutants including pesticides, metals, pharmaceuticals, and emerging contaminants.
Ocean plastic pollution is accidentally on the menu for southern giant petrel chicks. Even small nibbles of it may affect their physiology during development, according to a study from the University of California, Davis, ...
Plants & Animals
Aug 31, 2026
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Unlike many other pollutants, toxic metals do not break down in the environment. Although they may become diluted over time, they can remain in landscapes for centuries, posing potential risks to wildlife, livestock, ecosystems ...
Environment
Aug 19, 2026
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Rat poisons used in homes, businesses and on farms are moving into South Africa's wildlife, according to new research from the Urban Caracal Project, a key research and education initiative based in the Institute for Communities ...
Plants & Animals
Aug 19, 2026
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13
This summer, millions of people across the country have been digging out sunscreen to protect themselves from a record-breaking series of heat waves.
Earth Sciences
Aug 9, 2026
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58
Along the Gulf Coast, black skimmers have long been a familiar sight—gliding just above the water with their bright orange beaks slicing through the surface to feed.
Plants & Animals
Jul 31, 2026
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27
A new Murdoch University study has uncovered alarming levels of pesticide contamination in the food sources of endangered Carnaby's cockatoos in the Wheatbelt—including concentrations well above regulatory limits found in ...
Ecology
Jul 19, 2026
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13
Untreated synthetic dye effluents severely threaten aquatic ecosystems by blocking sunlight, depleting dissolved oxygen and releasing compounds with potential ecological toxicity. Among the various treatment strategies, biological ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jul 13, 2026
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6
In a study recently published in the journal Environmental Research, scientists from the University of Sharjah have drawn renewed attention to contamination by polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), a class of man-made chemicals ...
Environment
Jul 13, 2026
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New research has found young birds living near contaminated industrial and military sites in suburban Melbourne carry especially high concentrations of PFAS, so-called "forever chemicals."
Environment
Jul 7, 2026
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13
Bumblebees collect up to seven times the amount of toxic heavy metals as honeybees even when foraging in the same environment, new research from the University of Cambridge has found. Exposure to these metals can affect everything ...
Plants & Animals
Jul 7, 2026
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