Time-Dependent Toxicity Related to Short-Term Peaks of Contaminant Release

Short-term peaks of contaminant concentrations and flows go undetected at many minesites. Recent biological studies have shown that short peaks can contribute significantly to toxicity due to aspects like damage per unit of time, accumulating damage through time, damage at any concentration, temporally aligned or offset synergistic and antagonistic interactions, and slowly reversible or non-reversible uptake and binding of some metals and other elements. Thus, monitoring, characterizing, predicting, and limiting of short-term peaks of contaminant release can be critical for minesites in certain environments and ecosystems.

Source: Kevin A. Morin (2017)
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