Biomagnification Case Study

Biomagnification is the concentration of toxins (such as DDT) in an organism that is a result of accumulation and concentration of it ingesting plants or animals where the toxins are more widely dispersed.  The level of toxins will become more concentrated the higher level the organism is.  The top predators in a food chain will have the highest concentration of toxins.  DDT was initially made and used to be a insecticide to help prevent the spread of: malaria, typhus, as well as other insect-borne diseases in civilian and military populations.
This toxin is spread through the food chain very easily.  The insects will ingest DDT through producers such as plants.  The DDT will be stored in fat cells and next level predators will eat the insects, and thus eat the DDT as well; which will also be stored in their fat cells.  This will result in a higher concentration of DDT in the secondary consumer, as they will be eating more food with DDT in it.  Then the tertiary consumers will eat the secondary consumers, and will result in an even higher level of DDT.  An example of this is as follows: DDT is sprayed in a marsh to control the mosquito population.  This will cause trace amounts of DDT to be stored in plankton, filter-feeders such as clams and some fish will eat the plankton causing an increase in the concentration of DDT.  Then, predators such as gulls will prey on the filter-feeders.  Since then the world governments have largely stopped using DDT all together.  The World Health Organization (WHO) in September, 2006 declared its support of using  DDT indoors in African countries in which malaria is a major health problem.  Regardless, DDT is largely unused today, as it poses a serious risk to both the health of ecosystems and humans.




"DDT - A Brief History and Status." EPA. United States Environmental Protection Agency, n.d. Web. 01 Oct. 2015.


"Biomagnification: How DDT Becomes Concentrated as It Passes through a Food Chain." Biomagnification. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Oct. 2015.