Midterm Exam Flashcards
(100 cards)
Definition of environmental toxicology
Study of adverse chemical effects on living organisms, communities, populations, and ecosystems.
Definition of toxicology
Study of adverse chemical effects on living organisms
Who was the father of modern toxicology, and why was he important
Paracelsus. Said that the dose determines the poison. Anything can be toxic; what matters is the dose.
How did the field of toxicology start?
Evolution of human culture. Hunters/gatherers, needed to know what could be eaten.
What event completely changed toxicology?
The industrial revolution and the advent of organic chemistry. Thousands of new chemicals were synthesized. Today, about 100,000 chemicals have been synthesized.
For what percent of chemicals do we have basic toxicity data?
~5%
when did modern toxicology begin?
after 1930
Who is the mother of modern environmental toxicology?
Rachel Carson. Wrote the book Silent Spring which described the dangers of pesticides (DDT) and biomagnification in the food chain, which was wiping out bird populations.
What is descriptive toxicology?
Defines the window of adverse effects. Major tool is the toxicity test.
what is mechanistic toxicology?
studies how chemicals get into organisms and produce adverse effects.
what is the LD50?
lethal dose where 50% of the population is estimated to die.
what is the window of toxicity?
the range where we see adverse effects.
how do you perform a toxicity test?
array of beakers with daphnia. give different doses, wait a given amount of time, and count how many die. can also count reproductive output, tumors, etc.
what is the ED50?
effective dose where 50% are affected. we aren’t always measuring lethality as our endpoint.
difference between LC50 and LD50
dose: concentration that past biological membrane
concentration: amount in environment
what does a dose response curve show?
plot of concentration vs mortality.
what is potency?
toxicity at low concentrations. more potent= more toxic at low concentrations
what is efficacy?
how fully the chemical can affect the population.
what are the three areas of toxicology?
descriptive, mechanistic, regulatory
what are some ways that toxic agents are classified?
target organs, uses, sources, effects, physical state, chemical stability,
what is an allergic reaction?
when an antibody finds antigens that have crossed the biological membrane.
what is an idiosyncratic reaction?
an abnormal reaction usually due to variation in individuals. some individuals are hyper-sensitive.
local vs systemic.
local: effects right where it occurs.
systemic: toxin crosses the biological membrane, distributes through the body, and that’s where the effects are observed.
what is an additive reaction?
no interaction between the chemicals