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Pollutants especially nondegradable ones move through the various trophic levels in an ecosystem. Nondegradable pollutants mean materials, which cannot be metabolized by the living organisms. Example: chlorinated hydrocarbons.
We are concerned about these phenomena because, together they enable even small concentrations of chemicals in the environment to find their way into organisms in high enough dosages to cause problems.
Movement of these pollutants involves two main processes:
i) Bioaccumulation
ii) Biomagnification.