The biological monitoring of toxic impacts on the environment.

The monitoring of the environment, for a long time confined to the analysis of some chemical products, today opens itself up to biological methods. The evaluation of the structure and functioning of the living communities within the ecosystem, the amount of pollution given off by the reactions of biochemical systems, and the toxic effects of chemical substances which allow biologists to estimate the diagnosis of the situation of the ecosystem. These tools are only now imposed to the member nations of the European Union through the water framework directive which has recently been published. This convergence between scientific advances and the needs of the environmental management opens the way for the development of biomonitoring technologies.