Abstract |
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is responsible for establishing Water Quality Criteria which are protective of fresh water and marine life as well as human health. In 1980 the EPA announced the availability of criteria for 65 priority toxic pollutants listed under section 307 (a) (1) of the 1977 amendments of the Clean Water Act. Stara et al. (1980) have reviewed the processes and problems involved in establishing such criteria. They list four levels of toxic effects: (1) acute, subchronic and chronic, (2) mutagenic, (3) teratogenic, and (4) carcinogenic. The latter three are all potentially genotoxic in action. Chemicals causing genetic aberrations theoretically have no threshold and therefore a zero-incidence is desirable. Chemicals causing toxic action other than genotoxicity are subject to the establishment of a 'No Observable Affect Exposure Level' and therefore have a definable threshold. The purpose of this review is to address the problem of potential exposure of human beings to persistent chemical contaminants which have been accumulated through aquatic food chains and to present documentation of food chain accumulation in natural ecosystems.(Copyright (c) 1984 Springer-Verlag New York, Inc.) |