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Pollutants cause changes in the ecosystems ranging from
decrease of individual populations to the collapse of whole ecosystems.
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The pollution chain describes the fate of a pollutant.
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Three process of deposition are acting on air pollutants;
sedimentation, dry and wet deposition.
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Atmospheric conditions and and the above ground level
of the point of emission influences the amount of local air pollution.
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The distribution and transport of chemicals in water is more
complex. Dissolved chemical will move freely with running water and
particulate pollutants will also move with running water.
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Most of the pollutants in water are found in the sediments.
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Most pollution is local. However, some substances and
circumstances act on a larger scale.
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Bioavailability means that a chemical could be taken up by
an organism.
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Bioaccumulation is the increase of a pollutant in the tissue
of the organism by increasing age.
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Biomagnification is the concentration and increase of
pollutants through the food chain.
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In mammals some pollutants are transported from mother to
child via the placenta and the mother's milk.
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Observations show that pollutants may cause extensive and
unexpected effects on the ecosystem.
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Hormono-mimetic pollutants are similar to hormones and
active in low concentrations.
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Chemicals that cause disturbances in the hormonal regulation
are called endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDC).
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EDCs may interfere with normail sexual development. The
masculinization of female mollusks is known as imposex.
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Environmental impacts may enforce each other - synergisms or
counteract each other - antagonism.
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The time scale of environmental damage varies from the very
short to several thousands of years.
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Resilience is the capacity of an ecosystem to return to its
original state.
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Damaged environments will go through a process of healing is
the disturbance is removed. This is usually a slow process and can be
enhanced by remediation by man.
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When a species is lost in its entire area it is irreversible change.
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Landscape changes have fundamental impact and last for long.
