ABSTRACT
With the relatively recent advent of mammalian immunotoxicology as a subdiscipline of toxicology over the past few decades, the evaluation of the immune system is increasingly recognized as a critical target in the process of xenobiotic risk assessment. Unintended immune suppression has the potential to increase the susceptibility of individuals to infectious organisms. As described below, a number of approaches have evolved to assess the potential for this type of immunotoxicity in traditional laboratory animals, most notably rats and mice. Likewise, compromised immune suppression in gulls, frogs, flounder, or other animals can result in analogous challenges. Thus, there is growing support that evaluation of immunotoxicity potential using wildlife may help to fill a gap in current environmental risk assessment. For the purposes of this chapter, we suggest that “ecoimmunotoxicology” may be largely defined in the context of nontraditional laboratory animal models, and can include terrestrial mammalian and invertebrate species, birds, amphibians, reptiles, fish, or other aquatic species. The peer-reviewed literature has numerous examples of models that appear to serve as sensitive markers for environmental stress; thus, some scientists feel that the
immune status of wildlife itself is challenged and needs to be assessed. Aquatic environments in particular readily sustain many disease-causing microorganisms, and decreased host resistance due to unintended immune suppression may be of particular concern in these systems.
