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Intro to Toxicology Flashcards

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1
Q

What is Toxicology?

A

The study of adverse effects of chemicals on the body

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2
Q

Chemicals can be considered…?

A

Poisons
Toxins
Toxicants
Xenobiotics

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3
Q

Poisons

A

Any agent capable of causing harm in a biological system

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4
Q

Toxins

A

Toxic substances produced BY a biological system

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5
Q

Types of Toxins?

A

Phytotoxins (plant-based)
Zootoxins (animal-based)
Bacteriotoxins (bacterium-based)

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6
Q

Toxicants

A

Toxic substances produced by human activity

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7
Q

Xenobiotics

A

Any substance not normally found within the body

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8
Q

Toxicity

A

The adverse effects that a chemical may produce

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9
Q

Dose

A

The amount of a chemical that gains access to the body

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10
Q

Exposure

A

Contact which provides the opportunity of obtaining a poisonous dose

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11
Q

Hazard

A

The likelihood that toxicity will be expressed

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12
Q

Over what percentage of poisonings happen at home?

A

90%

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13
Q

Household products implicated in most poisonings…

A

Cleaning solutions
Fuels
Medicines
Glue
Cosmetics

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14
Q

Certain animals secrete xenobiotic poison which we call _______ while others harbor _______?

A

Venom; infectious bacteria

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15
Q

Some ______ are poisonous to humans and animals

A

Household plants

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16
Q

A career in toxicology

A

involves evaluating the bodily effects of drugs, contaminants, and other toxins

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17
Q

Toxicology is carried out in what types of settings?

A

Government, private, industry, universities, and research settings

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18
Q

Toxicologists use many sophisticated tools to determine the risk of these chemicals, such as?

A

Computer simulations, molecular biology, cell culture, genetically-engineered laboratory animals, as well as many, many chemical experiments

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19
Q

What do toxicologists do?

A

most work to develop a mechanistic understanding of how chemicals affect living systems

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20
Q

What does toxicology work lead to?

A

Developing safer chemical products, developing safer drugs, determining risks for chemical exposures, developing treatments for chemical exposures, teaching

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21
Q

Mechanistic toxicologists

A

study how a chemical causes toxic effects by investigating its absorption, distribution, and excretion

They often work in academic settings or private industries and develop antidotes

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22
Q

Descriptive toxicologists

A

evaluate the toxicity of drugs, foods, and other products

They often work in a pharmaceutical or academic setting

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23
Q

Clinical toxicologists

A

usually physicians or veterinarians interested in prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of poisoning cases

Often work in hospitals or animals hospitals and have specialized training in emergency medicine and poison management

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24
Q

Environmental toxicologists

A

study the effect of pollutants on organisms, populations, ecosystems, and the biosphere

They usually work within a state or federal laboratory, or private organizations

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25
Regulatory toxicologists
use scientific data to decide how to protect humans and animals from excessive risk They usually work within regulatory agencies such as at the FDA and EPA
26
Some occupational exposure is controlled at a level beyond individual choice to avoid exposure
Regulatory toxicology
27
Groups that try to control exposures on a communal or global level
Communities or governments (leads to many regulatory agencies)
28
Who funds regulatory agencies?
Government
29
The research performed by these toxicologists also help establish the requirements by performing what?
Risk assessments
30
Regulatory toxicology provide assistance in the interaction between what?
Government and industry
31
"Virtually every medical achievement of the last century has depended directly or indirectly on research in animals"
U.S. Public Health Services
32
There are regulatory agencies put in place to prevent the mistreatment of animals used in research such as...?
the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC)
33
Any experimentation done on humans is first approved by...?
Institutional Review Board (IRB)
34
Forensic toxicologists
study the application of toxicology to the law Use chemical analysis to determine causes and circumstances of death in a postmortem investigation
35
What do forensic toxicologists look for?
Look to see whether the level of substance present in the body at the time of death would be able to produce an altered state in the individual
36
Who do forensic toxicologists usually work within?
State or federal laboratory, or independently
37
Why is toxicology arguably the oldest scientific discipline?
Earliest humans had to recognize which plants were safe to eat
38
Most exposure of humans to chemicals is via what?
Naturally occurring compounds consumed from food (plants)
39
Humans are exposed to chemicals both _____ and _____
Inadvertently; deliberately
40
2700 BC
Chinese journals show the cataloging of food and fish poisons
41
1900 - 1200 BC
Egyptian documents have directions for the collection, preparation, and administration of more than 800 recipes, both medicinal and poisonous
42
800 BC
India writings contain Hindu medicines that show notes on both poisons and antidotes
43
50 - 100 AD
Greek physicians classify over 600 plant, animal, and mineral poisons via "De Materia Medica"
44
50 - 400 AD
Romans use poisons for executions and assassinations
45
Who was executed using hemlock for his teaching of radical ideas to the youth?
Socrates
46
1200 AD
Spanish rabbi, Maimonidies, writes a first-aid book for poisonings, Poisons and Their Antidotes
47
1493 - 1541 AD
Paracelsus!! Father of modern toxicology!
48
Who was the Father of Modern Toxicology?
Paracelsus "All substances are poisonous; there is none which is not a poison. The right dose differentiates a poison from a remedy."
49
1713 AD
Italian physician Ramazzini publishes De Morbis Artificium (Diseases of Workers)
50
What does De Morbis Artificium describe?
"asthma" caused by health hazards in workers that deal with certain dusts, fumes, and gasses
51
What Ramazzini described in De Morbis Artificium would be diagnosed as what today?
"Allergen-induced asthma" for bakers and horse riders
52
The lung disease that was suffered by the other workers would be "pneumoconiosis," which is what?
A group of dust-related chronic diseases
53
1815 AD
Spanish physician, Orfila, establishes toxicology as a distinct scientific discipline
54
Who established toxicology as a distinct scientific discipline?
Mathieu Orfila (Spanish physician)
55
20th century (Ehrlich)
Paul Ehrlich develops staining procedures which assist in seeing toxicant influence on living organisms
56
20th century (Carson)
Rachel Carson publishes Silent Spring, which alarms public about the dangers of pesticides
57
Environmental toxicants (pollutants)
Substances harmful to humans and the environment
58
Pollutants (Enviro Toxicants) can be both _____ and _____?
Natural; man-made
59
Public perception tends to think that _____ toxicants are more serious, but the reality is that _____ can be very serious
Man-made; both
60
Many examples of diseases associated with specific occupations have been recorded in antiquity, but the seriousness was not evaluated because of societal concerns at the time
These include: Miner's Disease -- 1533 Hill & Pott discoveries -- 1761, 1775 Radium Dial Painters/"Aniline dye" workers -- 1900 Shoe salesmen -- 1950s Industrial chemical workers -- 1940s to present day
61
Miner's Disease (1533)
Came from inhaling metal vapors, foundation for the field of chemotherapy
62
Which disease helped with the creation of Chemotherapy?
Miner's Disease
63
Hill (1761)
Linked tobacco (snuff) to cancer
64
Pott (1775)
Linked soot (benzo(a)pyrene) to scrotal cancer in chimney sweeps
65
Radium Dial Painters/"Aniline Dye" Workers (1900)
Painters licked their brushes to pull them to a point, resulting in radiation
66
Shoe salesman (1950s)
Used a shoe-fitting fluoroscope, which resulted in repeated exposure for salesmen
67
Industrial Chemical Workers (1940s to present)
Workers are exposed to a great number of carcinogens for a greater period of time
68
These occupations present with a high risk of cancer
Healthcare workers Pharmaceutical and laboratory workers Refinery workers Rubber workers Furniture makers Pesticide workers
69
Due the toxicology concerns, various governmental programs were established
1906 -- Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 1961 -- Society of Toxicology 1970 -- Environmental Protection Agency 1970 -- National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) 1971 -- Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
70
What must occur for the chemical to present a risk?
Exposure
71
The magnitude of risk is proportional to both the _____ of the chemical and the _____?
Potency; extent of exposure
72
"The dose makes the poison"
Extent may mean concentration or length of time and the extent of the exposure/dosage is what makes something poisonous
73
Can a nontoxic chemical become toxic at a high enough dosage?
Yes
74
Highly toxic chemicals may also be life-saving when given in the appropriate doses
Poisons may not be harmful at a sufficiently low dose Chemotherapy is an example!
75
Lethal dose
Dose which will cause death in the specimen (mice, humans, etc.)
76
Sugar lethal dose
3 quarts
77
Alcohol lethal dose
3 quarts
78
Salt lethal dose
1 quart
79
Herbicide lethal dose
One half cup
80
Nicotine lethal dose
one half teaspoon
81
Food poison (botulism) lethal dose
Microscopic
82
Arsenic lethal dose
1-2 teaspoons
83
Exposure can affect the toxicological response based on different what?
Routes of exposure Frequencies of exposure Durational of exposure (acute v. chronic)
84
Routes of environmental exposure
Ingestion Absorption Injection Inhalation
85
Ingestion
water and food Exposure is through the gastro-intestinal track, and may start as soon as the mouth
86
Absorption
through skin
87
Injection
bite, puncture, or cut
88
Inhalation
breathing, air particles
89
How are people able to protect themselves from environmental exposure?
by blocking these routes of exposure
90
What contributes to dose?
Both duration and frequency
91
What type of exposure is less than 24 hours in duration and usually entails just a single exposure?
Acute exposure
92
Repeated or chronic exposures are classified as what?
Subacute Subchronic Chronic
93
Subacute
repeated for up to 30 days
94
Subchronic
repeated for 30-90 days
95
Chronic
repeated for over 90 days
96
Chronic exposures usually involve _______?
smaller amounts of toxicant
97
Why is there a variety of responses among organisms that get the same dose of chemical?
Individual susceptibility (also affected by caffeine intake and medication dosage...)
98
Xenobiotics
foreign chemicals that aren't synthesized within the body
99
Xenobiotics may be naturally occurring chemicals produced by what?
plants, microorganisms, or animals
100
Xenobiotics may also be synthetic chemicals that ______ produce?
humans
101
Poisons are xenobiotics, but...
NOT all xenobiotics are poisons
102
How do some xenobiotics cause toxicity?
By disrupting normal cell function
103
How do xenobiotics disrupt normal cell function
Bind and damage proteins (structural or enzymatic) Bind and damage DNA (mutations) Bind and damage lipids (cell wall mechanisms) React in the cell with oxygen to form "free radicals," which damage lipids, protein, and DNA
104
Types of toxic effects
Organ damage Mutagenesis Carcinogenesis Teratogenesis Death
105
Mutagenesis
The change of genetic information which causes mutations
106
Carcinogenesis
The creation of cancers
107
Teratogenesis
The creation of malformations produced in an embryo or fetus
108
Target organ toxicity: Certain toxins affect specific organs, which results in organ damage, including:
Central nervous system -- Lead Immune system -- Isocyanates Liver -- Ethanol, Acetaminophen Respiratory tract -- tobacco smoke, asbestos, ozone Eye -- UV light (sunlight, eclipses) Kidney -- metals Skin -- UV light, gold, nickel Reproductive system -- dibromochloropropane
109
How does the body prevent xenobiotic action?
Once the body is exposed to xenobiotics, it responds in the following pattern: Redistribution Excretion Metabolism
110
Redistribution
Moving the poison to areas around the body for further action
111
Excretion
removing the xenobiotic by processes usually involving the kidney and liver
112
Excretion works mostly for what kind of compounds?
Water soluble compounds
113
Metabolism
Major mechanism for terminating xenobiotic activity
114
What is the single, most important determinant of duration and intensity of toxic response?
Metabolism
115
Metabolism involves which structures?
liver kidney lung GI system (and others)
116
Redistribution and excretion are highly dependent on what?
Metabolism

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