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Modes of Action of Chemical Pollutants

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Encyclopedia of Aquatic Ecotoxicology

Glossary

Adverse outcome pathways (AOP):

Conceptual framework that leads from the initiating event of interaction between a toxicant and a receptor in an organism over cellular and organ response to an adverse outcome at organism or population level (Ankley et al. 2010).

Baseline or nonspecific toxicity:

Minimal toxicity that any compound exhibits by partitioning into biological cell membranes, causing nonspecific disturbance of the integrity and functioning of cell membranes.

Biologically effective dose:

The biologically effective dose (BED) or the amount that actually reaches cells, sites, or membranes where adverse effects occur may represent only a fraction of the delivered dose, but it is obviously the best one for predicting adverse effects (cited from Paustenbach DJ 2000, The practice of exposure assessment: A state-of-the-art review. J Toxicol Environ Health B Crit Rev 3:179–291).

Dose (external):

The dose of a toxicant that is external to the organism that can be used to...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Research Centre for Environmental Toxicology (Entox), The University of Queensland, 39 Kessels Rd, 4108, Brisbane, Qld, Australia

    Beate I. Escher

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  1. Beate I. Escher
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Correspondence to Beate I. Escher .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire des Environnements Continentaux (LIEC), Université de Lorraine, Metz, France

    Jean-François Férard

  2. Aquatic Ecosystem Protection Research Division, Water Science and Technology Directorate, Environment Canada, Montréal, QC, Canada

    Christian Blaise

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Escher, B.I. (2013). Modes of Action of Chemical Pollutants. In: Férard, JF., Blaise, C. (eds) Encyclopedia of Aquatic Ecotoxicology. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5704-2_68

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