We learn things regularly in modern life. People are always inventing words to apply them to new technologies or situations that hadn’t previously existed. We generally learn most of these through the context in which they’re used and don’t need to think any further than that. That’s how most of us learned the word “selfie”. Most terms spread like this, but not all of them do. These terms are often specialized or for a particularly invisible situation that most people aren’t aware of at all. Bioaccumulation is one such word. It has a fancy name and actually can affect all of us. That’s what it is important that we have a firm understanding of the term so that we all know what it entails before it becomes a major buzzword in the news. Sadly, bioaccumulation is a more sinister word than you might initially think.

Bit By Bit
Bioaccumulation specifically means the gradual buildup of particular substances within a body over a course of exposure. This can be over any length of time and is typically used to refer to the buildup of toxins or poisonous materials. Organisms can have this happen over time for any number of reasons. Environmental exposure and the substance being part of the food chain are the two most common ways that bioaccumulation happens. This is becoming an increasing topic of worry throughout the world as the actions of humans and our impact on the environment are becoming increasingly clear. It turns out that the things we enjoy for their usefulness may be leading to a particularly negative scenario where our polluting the environment is rapidly reaching back towards us. Unfortunately, it is doing it in ways that aren’t easily observable for most people.

From The Bottom Up
Pollution takes its toll on us in a variety of ways. The Pacific garbage patch is one pronounced way that has captured the public imagination. It isn’t a genuine floating island of trash, but is instead a collection of debris caught in the currents in a particular area. Most of it has been worn down and broken up into small pieces of debris that are actually relatively easily eaten even by smaller fish. They often do end up eating them too in pursuit of their actual food source. The plastic then ends up in the body of the fish. This leads the plastic to gradually add the compounds in it to the fish. While the fish goes on living its life with a small dose of any chemicals the plastic was exposed to, it eats more and more of the plastic on accident and the dose gets larger. Our fish is eventually eaten by a larger fish who has eaten many smaller fish similar to the one we originally followed. This fish suffers a similar fate until eventually a human somewhere catches the final fish in our chain that now has high concentrations of the compounds that built up below. That is bioaccumulation.

Bans for a Better Tomorrow
Scientists are helping to advise governments and companies on ways to help curb the problem represented by bioaccumulation. One of the most noticeable is the growing global trend to ban microbeads. These small beads of plastic are relatively common in beauty products as a method of improving exfoliation. Countless microbeads go down the drain each day between everyone using such products though. They also carry with them all the chemicals they absorb while being in a product that, while good for topical use, shouldn’t be ingested. Even some of the smallest parts of the food chain can end up ingesting these beads. As a result, they are leading to the buildup happening as fast as it has. The bans and other steps being taken around the world hope to be able to decrease the amount of debris that ends up the environment that leads to bioaccumulation. It will take a concentrated effort from all of us though.

Bioaccumulation isn’t another fancy word to ignore when it comes up on the news. It represents a potential threat to your health and way of life. As a species, we need to figure out how to keep our convenience without it killing us or the environment. People are working every day to help provide the answers, but that doesn’t mean we can’t take small steps ourselves. Avoid microbead products. Favor products that are refillable or that otherwise minimize the amount of plastics required. These steps may not seem like much, but if a lot of people do them then it will likewise build up within the culture.