British Sign Language Glossaries of Curriculum Terms

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BSL Environmental Science Glossary - Biomagnification definition


Definition: Biomagnification is when toxins in a plant like algae are passed on from animal to animal through predation and are multiplied due to the amount of toxins ingested altogether.

So, in one example, shrimp may feed on algae that is full of toxins. The toxins are ingested and migrate to the fat inside the body which is a difficult area to excrete the toxins from. One shrimp may have a certain amount of toxins from all the contaminated algae it eats. When the shrimp gets eaten by a small fish, the small fish ingests the toxins present in the shrimp. Eating more shrimp with the toxins means the toxins build up in the body with each shrimp eaten. When the small fish is eaten by a bigger fish, the same thing happens, and that bigger fish is then eaten by an apex predator. Then the magnification of the toxin, the buildup of the huge amounts of toxins can cause the apex predator to become ill and die. It can happen to humans too, we may catch large amounts of the same contaminated fish and the large concentrations of toxins ingested can affect us too.