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DONALD E. TILLITT US Department of Interior Columbia, MO 65201 of human-causedepisodes of toxicological effects in pop-ulations of wildlife species, only since World War II—when the use of synthetic, halogenated hydrocarbons be-came widespread—have large-scale, chemically induced wildlife epizootics (epidemics) occurred. Limited knowl-edge of the basic biochemistry, physiology, and natural histories of wildlife species has prevented a complete un-derstanding of the effects of contaminants on wildlife. The study of effects of toxic chemicals on wildlife pop-ulations is limited by the complexity of many species interacting with one another and their natural habitats, hu-man-caused physical changes to their environment, and the effects of chemicals. This situation has been exacer-bated by a lack of sufficiently sensitive and discriminatory instrumental, analytical techniques and authentic standards for all of the …