Pollutants Biotransformation

Abstract

The presence of some pollutants in the human body may alter cell function and may induce various diseases. Lipid-soluble pollutants usually accumulate in depots or undergo enzyme-mediated biotransformation in various organs and tissues. The pollutants' metabolites resulting from the biotransformation could enter the blood and could be eliminated. Biotransformation (metabolic alteration) of pollutant molecules occurs mainly in the liver, but to some extent also in the skin, kidneys, placenta, plasma, intestine, or brain. The biotransformation is the sum of the processes by which a pollutant is subject to chemical change in living organisms. Biotransformation is not strictly related to detoxication, because in a number of cases the metabolites are more toxic than the parent pollutants, and in that case, the term bioactivation or toxication is used.