Monitoring toxicity levels in specific biological compartments is necessary to evaluate the ecotoxicological risk associated with environmental pollution. Biomarkers are increasingly used as rapid early warning systems in environmental monitoring and ...
Monitoring toxicity levels in specific biological compartments is necessary to evaluate the ecotoxicological risk associated with environmental pollution. Biomarkers are increasingly used as rapid early warning systems in environmental monitoring and ecological risk assessment procedures. Despite this increasing use, biochemical endpoints alone are not sufficient to diagnose environmental quality. Changes in biomarkers should be investigated in connection with effects at higher levels of biological organization, to ensure that they can really be considered as an "early warning" signal. Numerous studies demonstrate that the simultaneous use of several biologicalparameters can provide complementary information about the effects of chemical exposure.