Hello; This was known some time ago particularly in top predators. Chemicals that do not break down easily move thru the food chain. A top predator (people can fit this label) consume large amounts of other organisms, both plant and animal, to grow and maintain over time.
Mercury in fish comes to mind. Lakes, ponds and seas are low spots in the gravity well and naturally become settlement spots for heavy materials. There are a few bodies of water near me posted with warnings about eating the fish.
Another recollection from the past. At one time it was estimated that up to 3000 new chemical formulations were being developed each year. Meaning chemical compounds created in labs that may never have existed in nature. Some of these wind up being put into the environment if they have a commercial application. There likely will be individual testing of the nature of the new chemical, but not so likely an investigation into how these various compounds might react once they get mixed in the environment.
R-12, aka Freon, also chlorinated fluorocarbon (sp) was perhaps the best referigant developed. Considered very inert. Took a while before a chemist worked out how the stuff would break down high in the atmosphere and deplete the ozone.
In a weak effort to wander back to food. Consider the amount of good land placed under a layer of asphalt or cement each year. A lot of the time land that is fairly level and good for farming is also the easier for buildings, roads and parking lots. It was many acres a year decades ago.
ohhhh man I love this thread.
