Effects of Environmental Pollutants upon Animals Other than Man

Abstract

All pollutants are waste products. They include both natural compounds that are present in undesirable concentrations in local ecosystems and chemical species foreign to the environment. What distinguishes them from other chemical wastes is, by definition, a potential capacity to inflict harm upon one or more species of an ecosystem. Many populations of wildlife are currently affected by pollutants that decrease the life span of adults or lower their reproductive capacity. Since these species breathe the same air as does man and consume some of the same food, they constitute an early warning system for the future health of man. In some cases it is not immediately evident which pollutants are producing the observed effects and an increasing amount of research is being devoted to these problems. The present paper will attempt to summarize our current knowledge in the field of pollutant ecology -that relates to the effect of pollutants upon wildlife populations. Hopefully it will provide a useful background to the formulation of programs that will look for effects of these same pollutants upon human health.