Toxic substances that enter the natural environment are often changed into other forms through the process of detoxification.  The opposite of detoxification is intoxication, a process where a compound becomes increasingly intoxicated.

Chemicals that enter the environment get broken down into small molecules.  Ultimately, these molecules are useful in processes such as the carbon cycle.  Often, the process of breaking down requires many years, though it can also occur in hours.

Detoxification can occur through many processes.  In can happen through cometabolism, or through microbial degradation.  Chemicals going through the latter process usually undergo mineralization.

Plants and animals that could be harmed by toxic chemicals are saved by the detoxification process.

Levels of detoxification can be measured with bioassays.  A bioassay tests a toxic substance on an organism to determine the level of toxicity remaining.  Chemicals undergoing detoxification can also be tested on organisms to measure how far the process has gone.

When a reaction that causes detoxification happens, biological or non-biological mechanisms are at work.  Important processes causing detoxification include oxidation, ring scission, combustion, hydrolysis, hydration, chelation, and others.

To totally detoxify a substance requires several chemical reactions.  Usually, the original toxic substance will have to be changed into several other products along the way.  Important biological and non-biological mechanisms must be at work at the same time, and only then will the process be successful.