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Establishing possible links between aquatic ecosystem health and human health: an integrated approach

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Interconnections Between Human and Ecosystem Health

Part of the book series: Chapman & Hall Ecotoxicology Series ((CHES))

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Abstract

The effects of environmental contaminants on biological systems are well documented, particularly in aquatic ecosystems (Adams, 1990; McCarthy and Shugart, 1990; Boudou and Ribeyre, 1993). In addition, the effects of toxicants on human health, including those chemicals that are mediated through inges- tion and both water- and air-borne pathways, have also been extensively studied (Eisenreich et al. 1981; Rapaport et al. 1985; Safe, 1987; Kannan et al. 1988; Anderson, 1989). Potential relationships and links, however, between aquatic system health and human health are poorly understood because of problems related to:

  1. 1.

    establishing cause and effect between receptor systems and contaminants in sentinel ecosystem species and humans;

  2. 2.

    establishing common mechanisms of toxic action between sentinel species and humans;

  3. 3.

    identifying routes or pathways of exposure from the affected natural system (aquatic system) to human populations;

  4. 4.

    absence, in many cases, of appropriate epidemiological or similar studies on human populations.

Publication No. 4360, Environmental Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

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Authors
  1. S. Marshall Adams
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  2. Mark S. Greeley Jr
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Duke University, Durham, USA

    Richard T. Di Giulio

  2. Department of Forestry and Wildlife Management, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USA

    Emily Monosson

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© 1996 Chapman & Hall

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Adams, S.M., Greeley, M.S. (1996). Establishing possible links between aquatic ecosystem health and human health: an integrated approach. In: Di Giulio, R.T., Monosson, E. (eds) Interconnections Between Human and Ecosystem Health. Chapman & Hall Ecotoxicology Series. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-1523-7_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-1523-7_6

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-010-7181-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-009-1523-7

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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