Interconnections Between Human and Ecosystem Health

Ecotoxicology is a relatively new scientific discipline. Ramade (1987) emphasized in their books the broad basis of ecotoxicology, encompassing chemical and radiation effects on all components of ecosystems. This text discusses the growing recognition that there are fundamental connections between the health of ecosystems and the health of humans in the context of environmental pollutants. Despite this, there has been a comparative isolation of scientists between the two areas of expertise, even though the insights of the one group are of potential help to the other. A key purpose for the book is to initiate broad discussion of mechanisms for society to effectively and efficiently understand and deal with environmental perturbations that have an impact simultaneously on human and ecosystem "health". The nascent field of risk assessment of environmental hazards, and the interconnections between human health and the health of the biotic environment, is therefore addressed in this book. Its interdisciplinary approach fills a previously unoccupied void in the literature.