What is the term for the increasing concentration of toxins at each level of the food chain?

The term that describes the increasing concentration of toxins as you move up each level of the food chain is called biomagnification. This process occurs because predators at higher trophic levels consume multiple prey species that contain toxins. As these toxins are not easily metabolized or excreted, they accumulate in the bodies of the higher-level predators. Consequently, the concentration of toxins in these organisms becomes significantly higher than in their prey, leading to potentially severe ecological and health impacts.

For instance, if a small fish absorbs certain pollutants from its environment, and then a larger fish eats many small fish, the larger fish will accumulate all the toxins from those small fish, resulting in much higher concentrations of pollutants in its tissues. This demonstrates the cumulative effect of toxin concentration through the food chain, which is central to understanding biomagnification.