Caddis flies,midges,and other aquatic insects easily accumulate toxic chemicals from the food they eat and the air they breathe.When eaten by fish,these critters pass on the contaminants to their predators,thus contributing to accumulation of the pollutants through the food chain.Now,a new study published in EST(pp 6137-6141)shows that the contribution of pollutants to the next trophic level depends on what life-cycle stage an insect is in when it gets eaten.The findings have implications for calculating biomagnification of organic pollutants in aquatic ecosystems.
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