Designating a foreign and usually harmful substance or organism in a biological system. Xenobiotic, derived from the Greek root xeno, meaning "stranger" or "foreign," and bio, meaning "life," describes some toxic substances, parasites, and symbionts. Food, drugs, and poisons are examples of xenobiotic substances in individual organisms, and their toxicity is linked to the level of consumption. In communities or species, xenobiosis happens when two distinct species, such as different kinds of ants, share living space like nests. At the ecosystem level, toxic waste, when bioaccumulated in the food chain/web,is xenobiotic.

See Also

Bioaccumulation; Hazardous Waste; Symbiosis