ABSTRACT

Monitoring of chemical pollutants is necessary although it has some difficulties, such as complex mixtures of chemicals, low concentrations, and different environmental matrices, such as indoor air, ambient air, surface and groundwaters, soil, and sediments. Considerable amounts of chemicals such as pesticides, Pharmaceuticals and personal care products, and phenols produced and used by humans are released into the environment through various point and nonpoint sources constituting an important class of environmental contaminants. The presence of organic chemicals in the environment and their toxicological action have lead scientists to involve these chemicals in monitoring programs and campaigns in order to study their distribution and ecotoxicological effects. Analysis of contaminants that accumulate in organisms’ tissues can give an indication of the environmental concentration levels. One important advantage of using bioassays in environmental monitoring is that they can supply a measure of all the compounds in an area, including unknown pollutants.