ENVIRONMENTAL BIO-INDICATORS OF THE QUALITY SYSTEM OF ECO-

MONITORING 

The International Conference on BioScience: Biotechnology and Biodiversity

– Step in the Future The Forth Joint UNS – PSU

Novi Sad, 2012

PhD. Rade BiočaninMSc Sonja Stefanov

Introduction

Humanity is now confronted with many existential crises, including the environmental crisis has a special place. Today, the damage done to the environment, results in negative impact on the entire ecosystem for many years in advance. The consequences of the devastating effects of mankind on the environment that occurred in the past, whether it is an environmental crisis or an ecological disaster, are going to influence today's societies. Modern management system is based on permanent business process advancement along with application of Quality Management System and Environmental Management System in accordance with Sustainable development. In this paper we handle the impact of toxic substances on living beings and environmental bioindicators, which are essential for quality monitoring, environmental protection, prevention and treatment of the population

Global Issues of Modern Days

The number of factors effecting the environment and which could cause distinctive damage to the health of human and other beings is large. Some of those factors are: the effect of polluted air, water, food and soil, the effect of radiation energy, The effect of noise and vibrations.

Numerous chemical substances that pollute and which are introduced into the environment could cause a series of disorders in a living organism and some of them are:  poisoning-toxic effect, damage to the genetic material-mutation effect, damage to the offspring (embryo, fetus)- teratogenic effect, the cancer of various organs-cancerous effect.

Toxic substances

Toxic substances could be found in different states in the environment as follows:

as gas (CO2, CO, SO2, and other sulfur oxides, NO2 and other nitrogen oxides, hydrocarbon, etc),

as liquid (mercury, etc.), as solid substances (particles, which most commonly,

contain carbon, silicon, aluminium, iron oxide, etc.).

Toxic substances

Toxic substances are introduced into an organism in many ways: via respiration, skin, digestion (food).

Toxins have the quickest effect when they are introduced into an organism by means of respiration because the absorption of the respiratory system is the quickest; however, gastrointestinal tract reabsorbs food quickly, as well.

On entering the mucous membrane, toxic substances enter the bloodstream and they are relatively quickly transported to the vital tissues and organs and to other organs in the organism afterwards.

Vital organs, the most sensitive to the external toxins effect, are endocrine system of organs and most of all thyroid gland, liver (which participates in detoxification of an organism), heart (large quantity of blood flows through it- 6 l per minute in average), brain (which is also exposed to the toxic effect of various toxins that penetrate the meninges).

When toxins enter an organism, they initially occupy the organs they could immediately bond with, such as radioactive iodine 131 bonds with the thyroid gland and causes cancer of that gland relatively quickly.

3. УТИЦАЈУТИЦАЈ ЉЕКОБИЉАЉЕКОБИЉА ИИ ПЧЕЛИЊИХПЧЕЛИЊИХ ПРОИЗВОДАПРОИЗВОДА

НАНА ЈАЧАЊЕЈАЧАЊЕ ИМУНОГИМУНОГ СИСТЕМАСИСТЕМА

Факултет за Безбједност и Заштиту Faculty of Security i Protection

Eco-toxic Disorders in Human Beings

Eco-toxicology mostly refers to toxic, teratogenic effects, mutation and cancerous effects of toxins. Toxic effects are a series of disorders in an organism caused by some toxic substances. The toxicity of the substance depends on the intensity of the processes in the organism that happen simultaneously: reabsorbtion, detoxification, deposition and elimination.

The heart is also affected by toxins on their entry into an organism because of the quantity of blood vessels it is connected to. Cardiac output is approximately 5-6 l of blood per minute, which means that the toxins easily enter bloodstream, remain attached to the inner walls of the heart endocardium and cause infections, which could disrupt the heartbeat, especially should the infection linger and grow into chronic disease. Heart conditions always lead to more serious alterations in functions of an organism, which are manifested in time, and cause severe conditions such as dilated cardiomyopathy, mitral valve prolapse which causes mitral regurgitation, varicose vein which may cause thrombophlebitis and others.

Toxins

Many toxins have neurotoxic effects because they attack neurons, disturb their functions and cause alterations in the function and structure of the brain (the brain cells do not have to power of regeneration or multiplication).

Toxins have the strongest impact upon the endocrine system, i.e. on the endocrine glands, such as radioactive iodine effect on the thyroid gland, which has been previously mentioned.

Teratogenic effect (lat. terata-mutant) is the effect of toxins on the offspring in the first three months following conception, because that is the most sensitive period for the offspring due to the quick cell multiplication and organogenesis (organ forming. One of the causes of having children with anomalies is the effect of toxins on fetus in the first three months of pregnancy.

Mutation effect of toxins is closely related to teratogenic effect because the toxins alter the genetic structure and their effect is the strongest when the 'victim' i.e. fetus is the most sensitive. However, toxins may have mutation effect in postnatal period, as well, which means that they could cause damage during the life cycles of the individual being. Mutation effect may cause two types of damage to the genes:

Alterations in the structure of chromosomes and their number (aberration); these are microscopic alternations,

Alterations in the genes (genetic mutation).

Cancerous effect of toxins is presented in the form of causing many malignant alterations (cancer) of various organs in an organism. Such cancerous substances turn healthy cells into cancerous cells, which multiply rapidly causing malignant tumors (they grow and corrupt surrounding tissues- metastasis).

 

A human being is the finest bio-indicator of health and quality of life

Bio-indicators of the Environment Quality

Eco-toxicology is a multidisciplinary science, which studies the effects of toxins on an organism, population and communities in polluted environment. It was defined for the first time by Truhaut, in 1969. Toxicology of an environment, eco-toxicology derives its lexical etymology from Ancient Greek words toxikon, which means poison, and logos, which means science. Great many chemicals in everyday use seriously damage the health of human and other living beings. Statistic data, that there are approximately 60000 chemicals in everyday use, and that each year another 1000 new chemicals are produced, witness the seriousness of the issue. The science that focuses on the damaging (toxic) effects of chemical substances on living organisms is called toxicology.

The term: bio-indicators was first introduced by Clements in 1920, to define the organisms which, when present in a habitat, indicate without a doubt the ecological conditions of that habitat. Physics and chemistry methods of monitoring are irreplaceable part of that system considering their providing exact data of the presence and distribution of pollution substances. However, they alone are not sufficient, nor could they replace biologic monitoring.

Water Resources Monitoring

In bio-monitoring of water pollution the commonest bio-indicators of state alternations are algae, bacteriae and fish. Water as a habitat affects all the living beings with its physical and chemical characteristics. Optimal characteristics are those, which create conditions in which a certain species of organism may preserve characteristic alternation of substance, and enable biological progress of the species. Variability of some factors of water habitat has and ecological significant for living beings in water.

One of the first steps towards the solution of ecological pollution water issue as research and monitoring of the presence and concentration of polluting substances, especially heavy metals. Even though water has extraordinary power of self-purification, some pollutants among which are heavy metals could cause the alternation in water quality to the point of making it useless for many purposes.

Bio-indicators of soil pollution are usually plants, vegetation, microorganisms, bacteriae, insects and animal species. They are indicators of health and the degree of preservation of environment due to their extraordinary sensitivity to the slightest of alternations in habitats. In some cases, it is possible that individual species disappear off the monitored locality. Those are the very species considered to be bio-indicators.

The significance of bio-monitoring in water quality research

Bio-indication is possible to be applied to all levels of living systems, starting with molecular to biological, physiological, cellular, individual, population, species relevant, biocenological (ecosystem), biome and biospheric level.

The advantages of biologic indication over physical and chemical methods of environment pollution/contamination monitoring are in the fact that living organisms may indicate the effect of polluting substances accumulation in the longer time period.

The that as it may, physical and chemical methods provide with exact data even though they are available in specific period.

Summary

The entire world begins to grasp the importance of following eco-demands for viable development, while acknowledges the issues and requirements of environment as key factors of survival of the civilization as well as distinguishing awareness of human participation in decaying which demands new types of curriculums with ecological position. Successful practicing of eco-management, i.e. the theory of viable development, would provide unimpeded industrial growth, environment quality, health and harmonious existence of present and future generations

Bio-indicators are relevant to the ecological health and quality of life. Each organism within an ecosystem has the ability to affect the health. Specific psychological changes of bio-indicators are used to demonstrate the changes in the health of the environment. The key criteria for bio-indicators when evaluating quantity and quality state of the environment:

Indicators are useful and reliable for environment monitoring, Indicator is the goal; it is transparent and reproductive, Elementary data are characterized by the methodology of gathering such data,

systems of data management which are integrally protected, and the procedure for ensuring the quality,

Data enable the description of changes or they are the indicator of theirmovem ents, which are comparable in time and space regarding the specimen of the target population.