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APES: A Global Concern > Chapter 8: Environmental Health and Toxicology > Flashcards

Chapter 8: Environmental Health and Toxicology Flashcards

1
Q

Who are the WHO?

A

World Health Organization

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2
Q

What are the factors that can contribute to disease?

A 
Poor diet and nutrition
Infectious agents
Toxic substances
Genetics
Trauma
Stress
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3
Q

What is the difference between morbidity and mortality?

A

Morbidity means illness while mortality

means death

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4
Q

What person and what book started the environmental health movement?

A

Rachel Carson with Silent Spring

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5
Q

What percentage of all deaths are due to chronic diseases?

A

60%

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6
Q

What disease does WHO predict will be the number one disease in 2020?

A

Heart disease

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7
Q

What are pathogens and what are some examples of some?

A

Pathogens are disease-causing agents
Ex. viruses, bacteria, protozoans (single-celled organisms),
parasitic worms and flukes.

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8
Q

What was the greatest cause of death in 1918?

A

An influenza pandemic

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9
Q

What are emergent diseases and what are some examples?

A

Those diseases previously unknown or not seen within the past 20 years.
Ex. Ebola, Marburg fever, West Nile Virus

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10
Q

What are ecological diseases and what are some examples?

A

Sudden widespread epidemics experienced by domestic animals and wildlife.
Ex. Ebola, Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD), and TSE related to mad cow disease

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11
Q

What is Conservation Medicine?

A

studies how environmental changes affect our health and natural communities we depend on for ecological services.

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12
Q

What is Toxicology?

A

The study of toxins or poisons

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13
Q

What are the top four most toxic and hazardous chemicals?

A

Arsenic
Lead
Mercury
Vinyl chloride

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14
Q

What are Allergens?

A

Substances that trigger an immune response (activates the immune system).

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15
Q

What is Sick Building Syndrome?

A

Environmental triggers cause immune system health concerns.

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16
Q

What are Endocrine Disrupters?

A

Chemicals that disrupt normal hormone functions.

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17
Q

What are Neurotoxins?

A

Special class of metabolic poisons that attach nerve cells (neurons).

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18
Q

What are Mutagens?

A

Substances that induce mutations (the altering of DNA), chemicals and radiation are sources.

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19
Q

What are Teratogens?

A

Substances that induce birth defects.

Ex. Alcohol (fetal alcohol syndrome).

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20
Q

What are Carcinogens?

A

Substances that cause cancer.

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21
Q

What are toxicity amounts dependent on?

A

Route of entry
Timing of exposure
Sensitivity of the organism

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22
Q

What is Sick Building Syndrome?

A

Environmental triggers cause immune system health concerns

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23
Q

Who tends to be the most susceptible to contract toxins?

A

Young children and the elderly

24
Q

How are airborne toxins absorbed?

A

Can be breathed in and are generally the most hazardous, causing the most ill effects.

25
Q

What things are important for determining how toxic a chemical is?

A

How a substance is delivered, at what rate, through what route of entry and in what medium

26
Q

What is bioaccumulation?

A

The selective absorption and concentration of molecules by cells.

27
Q

What is biomagnification?

A

increase in concentration of certain stable chemicals in successively higher trophic levels of a food chain or food web

Example: Mercury biomagnification

28
Q

What are POP’s?

A

Persistent Organic Pollutants;
They accumulate in food webs and can reach toxic concentrations in long-living organisms (humans, raptors, sharks, bears, etc.).

29
Q

What are the most dangerous POP’s?

A

PBDE (polybrominated diphenyl ethers):
flame retarding chemicals, now banned in Europe
PFOS (perfluorooctane sulfonate) and C8 :
chemicals used for non-stick and stain-resistant surfaces

30
Q

What are phthalates?

A

Found in cosmetics, deodorants, and plastics

31
Q

What is perchlorate?

A

A waterborne contaminant found in propellants and rocket fuel

32
Q

What a Bisphenol A (BPA)?

A

Prime ingredient in many plastics, it is an environmental estrogen

33
Q

What is atrazine?

A

Most widely used herbicide in America

34
Q

What is a body burden?

A

Name given to persistent toxins that have accumulated in our bodies

35
Q

What is synergism?

A

Interaction in which one substance exacerbates the effects of another.
Ex. Smoking increases potential rate of lung cancer

36
Q

What is a toxin?

A

Even in dilute concentrations; poisonous chemicals that react to kill cells or alter normal growth and development.

37
Q

What is a poison?

A

Any substance that can cause severe distress or death if ingested, breathed in, or absorbed through the skin.

38
Q

What is a fundamental concept of toxicology?

A

Any material can become poisonous under some conditions, but most materials have a safe level. Most toxins can be broken down over time. (POPs do not deteriorate)

39
Q

What do enzymes do?

A

Process waste products to reduce their toxicity

40
Q

Where are most enzymes located?

A

In the liver

41
Q

What does “The dose makes the poison” mean?

A

Everything is toxic at some level

42
Q

What is a common example of “The dose makes the poison”?

A

Table salt is essential to life in small doses. It is toxic in
high doses

43
Q

What is a common measurement test?

A

Expose a population of lab animals to specific measured doses of a specific substance under controlled conditions

44
Q

What are problems of a common measurement test?

A

Expensive, time-consuming, and painful or deadly to the animals tested

45
Q

What is LD50?

A

Describes the toxicity of a substance by which 50 percent of the test population is sensitive.

46
Q

What does “LD” mean?

A

A modern toxin takes 1 gram per kilogram of body weight to make a lethal dose

Very toxic substances take 1/10th that amount.

Extremely toxic substances take 1/100th that amount

Supertoxic substances are lethal in a few micrograms

47
Q

What is an acute dose?

A

Effects caused by a single exposure to a toxin and result in an immediate health crisis.

Example: Being
bitten by a poisonous snake

48
Q

What is a chronic dose?

A

Effects may be caused by a single exposure or multiple exposures over a long period of time. Symptoms may be long-lasting.

Example: Lung cancer resulting from a lifetime of smoking

49
Q

What are EPA standards?

A

For water, air, soil, etc.
Levels set by the Environmental Protection
Agency or DEP, Department of Environmental
Protection are not necessarily harmful. They
just serve as a “boundary” of acceptable
quantities.

50
Q

What are the EPA standard quality level units?

A 
ppm, ppt, ppb, ppq, etc.
parts per million
parts per trillion
parts per billion
parts per quadrillion
51
Q

What is risk?

A

Possibility of harm or loss

52
Q

What is risk assessment?

A

Process of estimating the threat particular hazards pose to human health.

53
Q

What are some factors in risk and risk assessment?

A

Political, social, economic interests of people
Understanding probabilities
Personal experience
Exaggerated view of our ability to control media bias
Irrational fear of technologies or activities
(nuclear)

54
Q

What is risk management?

A

Combines the principles of environmental health and toxicology with regulatory decisions based on economic, technical, and political considerations.

Example: Endocrine Disrupter Screening Program
After 13 years if testing and 76 million
dollars, no disrupters have been found

55
Q

What do we need to consider when setting standards for environmental toxins?

A

Combined effects of exposure to sources of
damage

Different sensitivities of population members

Effects of chronic vs. acute exposures

APES: A Global Concern (45 decks)

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