- Introduction

Anthropogenic activities are responsible for the environmental input of many classes of chemicals through industrial sources, domestic and urban efuents, and diffuse sources linked to agriculture. The main categories of contaminants include both organic [petroleum hydrocarbons, polychlorobiphenyls (PCBs), pesticides, etc.] and inorganic (metals and nonmetallic elements) compounds. These compounds were studied as soon as ecotoxicology appeared as a specic branch of environmental studies, whereas emerging contaminants have become a topic of concern more recently, even though some of them have been present in the environment for years. Emerging contaminants include pharmaceutical and care products, alkylphenols, brominated ame retardants, peruorinated organic compounds, and nanoparticles.