ECOTOXICOLOGY OF ORGANOTIN COMPOUNDS

Organotin compounds are ubiquitous contaminants in the environment. Th e high biological activity of some compounds toward aquatic organisms lead to deleterious impacts in aquatic ecosystems. Here, the aquatic e cotoxicology of organotins is reviewed based on a multidisciplinary ap proach involving environmental chemical, toxicological, and ecological aspects. Basic results were obtained both with field and laboratory s tudies, and some of the most important recent results and conclusions are critically reviewed. The contamination of and fate in aquatic syst ems is reported and linked with effects at different levels of biologi cal organization. Major emphasis is placed on the development of a con cept of ecotoxicology that encompasses not only effect assessment alon e, but also integrates environmental chemistry with aquatic toxicology . Thereby, the influence of speciation for bioavailability, basic mode s of toxic action, and aquatic toxicity are discussed. This case study on organotins allows to a certain extent generalizations to ecotoxico logy in general.