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chained_bear commented on the word hypervitaminosis a
A.k.a. overdose of vitamin A, sometimes achieved by eating the liver of certain Arctic animals, esp. polar bears but others also.
"In fact, the polar bear was the last link in a food chain which led to an accumulation and concentration of vitamin A with every step. At the outset the vitamin A was formed in plankton in the sea. The plankton was consumed by fishes, which concentrated and stored the vitamin in their livers; hence the richness of cod-liver oil and halibut-oil. The fishes were then eaten by seals; the seals were eaten by polar bears. As small a quantity as three or four ounces of polar bear liver could contain enough vitamin A to bring on acute illness."
—Michael Howell and Peter Ford, The Ghost Disease, and Twelve Other Stories of Detective Work in the Medical Field, (New York: Penguin Books, 1985), 337
September 11, 2008
Prolagus commented on the word hypervitaminosis a
The process is called biomagnification*.
*More or less; the term is used mostly for accumulation of toxins.
September 11, 2008