Xenobiotic
Xenobiotic
Designating a foreign and usually harmful substance or organism in a biological system. Xenobiotic, derived from the Greek root xeno, meaning "stranger" or "foreign," and bio, meaning "life," describes some toxic substances, parasites , and symbionts. Food, drugs, and poisons are examples of xenobiotic substances in individual organisms, and their toxicity is linked to the level of consumption. In communities or species , xenobiosis happens when two distinct species, such as different kinds of ants, share living space like nests. At the ecosystem level, toxic waste, when bioaccumulated in the food chain/web ,is xenobiotic.
See also Bioaccumulation; Hazardous waste; Symbiosis
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Xenobiotic