bioconcentrar

A closely related scientific term to bioacumular, referring specifically to a substance building up in an organism directly from the surrounding water or air, rather than through the food chain: el contaminante se bioconcentra en las branquias de los peces. A narrow technical term used almost exclusively in ecotoxicology.

• El contaminante se bioconcentra en los tejidos de los moluscos. — The pollutant bioconcentrates in the tissue of mollusks.
• Los científicos miden cuánto se bioconcentra un químico en el agua. — Scientists measure how much a chemical bioconcentrates from the water.
• Algunas sustancias se bioconcentran más rápido en organismos acuáticos. — Some substances bioconcentrate faster in aquatic organisms.

Easily confused with bioacumular — bioconcentrar specifically means uptake directly from the environment (water/air), while bioacumular includes uptake through diet too; the two aren't simply interchangeable in scientific writing.

Often confused with bioacumular.