Many organisms in the environment interact with xenobiotic materials, which are foreign to the living systems. When the organisms interact with the xenobiotic materials the process is known as bioaccumulation. During bio-accumulation there could be materials like sediments including soil and food.
Next after the process of bio-accumulation is bio-magnification, where the xenobiotic materials become more concentrated with the tissues from the organisms that are higher up in the food chain. This happens with lipid-soluble organic compounds that don't easily break down. For example a small fish can be eaten by a bigger fish and then both are eaten by a bird. When something doesn't break down right that substance or material will go back into the water or depurification.
Bio-concentration is when a substance that can be dissolved in water goes into the fish or another aquatic animal and gets transported to the lipids that are in the blood. This assumes that the organism doesn't metabolize the compound like DDT and PCBs.
Source: Green Chemistry and the Ten Commandments of Sustainability by Stanley E. Manahan
http://www.scribd.com/doc/7898722/95/BIOLOGICAL-INTERACTION-WITH-ENVIRONMENTAL-CHEMICALS
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