Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Continuedfrompage89
filter-feeders, clams bioaccumulate and biomagnify any water-borne toxins they
ingest within their body tissues, effectively becoming a living registry of contaminants
within a fairly short time. By placing them in the streams which form tributaries
to larger river systems, they produce a biological record of specific water quality,
which can later be analysed in the laboratory, allowing an accurate determination
of the stream's pollution status to be made. Once this has been achieved, the way
is open to begin the process of tracing the pollutants back to their sources, and then
ultimately either eradicate or ameliorate them.
This approach has already proven itself in the field, notably detecting a now
banned pesticide in a stream in Maryland, which the team believe had been buried
some years ago and had subsequently begun slowly leaching into the water course.
The use of appropriate indigenous species to provide a modern day 'canary-in-
the-coal-mine' has a clear appeal as a low cost pollution detection system, which
lends itself to a wide spectrum of potential applications in developed and developing
nations alike.
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