 Corresponding author: Abdullateef Abdullahi Ibrahim; Phone: +2347083333163; E-mail: Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Sciences, University of Maiduguri, P.M.B. 1069, Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria. Copyright © 2021 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article. This article is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Liscense 4.0. Conceptual Background of Bioaccumulation in Environmental Science Abdullateef Abdullahi Ibrahim 1, * , Ali Gambo Yusuf 2 , Gambo Ismail 3 , Muhammad Abdullahi Ibrahim 1 , Abdulhamid Ruwa Musa 4 and Mustapha Said Sulaiman 5 1 Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Sciences, University of Maiduguri, P.M.B. 1069, Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria 2 Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Sciences, University of Maiduguri, P.M.B. 1069, Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria 3 Northeast Zonal Biotechnology Centre, University of Maiduguri, P.M.B. 1069, Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria 4 Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Maiduguri, P.M.B. 1069, Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria 5 Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Life Sciences, Bayero University, Kano, P.M.B. 3011, Kano State, Nigeria. World Journal of Advanced Pharmaceutical and Life Sciences, 2021, 01(01), 035–041 Publication history: Received on 09 March 2021; revised on 28 April 2021; accepted on 01 May 2021 Article DOI: https://doi.org/10.53346/wjapls.2021.1.1.0015 Abstract Environmental metal pollution is one of the serious global problems with severe health effects due to its persistence and accumulation in living organisms, these require biological strategies such as bioaccumulation for remediation, the main environmental contaminants are associated to water, soil, and air. Meanwhile, Bioaccumulation is the accumulation of pollutants in living organisms which enable to assess the risk related to their presence in the ecosystems. In other words; Bioaccumulation is the net result of all uptake and loss processes, such as respiratory and dietary uptake, and loss by egestion, metabolism, passive diffusion, transfer to offspring and growth. Hence, this paper provides the conceptual background of bioaccumulation factors, effect of heavy metals on the ecosystems, and the organisms involved in the processes as well as some fishes and plants responsible for bioaccumulation. Keywords: Ecosystems; Environment; Heavy Metals; Contaminants; Accumulation. 1. Introduction Bioaccumulation is a term commonly used for metal toxicity [1]. The knowledge on bioaccumulation enables to assess the risk related with the presence of different chemicals in the food, environment, and at workplace and to present quantitative ability to control the use and the emissions of the chemicals [2]. Accumulation of toxic heavy metals in edible food crops is a potential threat to animal and human health [3]. Therefore, Bioaccumulation refers to the uptake of contaminant concentrations from the ambient environmental medium in aquatic organisms [4]. Meanwhile, the detailed mechanism of bioaccumulation remains unclear [5]. Anthropogenic involvement has made a significant contribution to soil contamination which may exert possible human health risk [6]. Pollution of the biosphere by the toxic metals is a global threat that has accelerated dramatically since the beginning of industrial revolution [7]. Unwarranted release of heavy metals from anthropogenic activities especially industrial discharge has threatened sustainable agricultural practices and limited the overall yield of diverse plants species [8]. Despite of low bioavailability of heavy metals in benthic organisms; accumulation is often observed [9]. This accumulation of toxicants or other chemicals in the soil expands both the potential targets (e.g., invertebrates, bacteria)