Environmental toxicology focuses on the impacts of chemical pollutants in the
environment on biological organisms. Although toxicologists concerned with the effects of
environmental pollutants on human health fit into this definition, it is most commonly
associated with studies on the impacts of chemicals on nonhuman organisms such as fish,
birds, terrestrial animals, and plants. Ecotoxicology is a specialized area within environmental
toxicology that focuses more specifically on the impacts of toxic substances on population
dynamics in an ecosystem. The transport, fate, and interactions of chemicals in the
environment constitute a critical component of both environmental toxicology and
ecotoxicology