Quiz 6 Flashcards
What caused PFAS to be added into couches?
1975 California furniture flammability required polyurethane foam in couches to be able to withstand small open flame for 12 seconds (followed across nation)
what are some problems with phasing out hazardous chemicals?
good in theory but need to find alternatives and there are possible unknown hazards with the alternatives.
couch flame retardants
flame retardants are used to meet the flammability standard for polyurethane foam, unfortunately contain lots of halogens (bromine and chlorines) and are persistent chemicals and endocrine disruptors
How did they fix the flame retardant rule
California law requires upholstered furniture to have a label stating if it has fire retardants, pre 2015 has flame retardants, after is replaced with healthier retardant free material
Toxicokinetics
how a substance gets into the body and what happens to it in the body, Toxicokinetics deals with what the body does with a drug when given a relatively high dose relative to the therapeutic dose
what does ADME stand for
absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion
factors determining the severity of toxicity
duration and concentration
rate and amount
distribution
efficiency
ability
amount of duration of storage
rate and sites of excretion
age and health status
Absorption
toxiokinetics, a highly toxic substance that is poorly absorbed may be no more hazardous than a substance of low toxicity that is highly absorbed
biotransformation
two substances with equal toxicity and absorption may differ in how hazardous they are depending on the nature of their biotransformation
what is the more toxic biotransformation
A substance that is biotransformed into a more toxic metabolite (bioactivated) is a greater hazard than a substance that is biotransformed into a less toxic metabolite (detoxified).
Toxic substances control act
authorizes the EPA to regulate and screen all chemicals produced or imported into the United States to prevent unreasonable risks to health and the environment
How did Quats avoid the toxic substances control act
Quats entered the market in the early 20th century before the toxic substances control act so they counted as existing chemicals on the market that didn’t need to be evaluated for consumer safety
Quats
Quaternary Ammonium Compounds, QAC
used ad disinfectants and common cleaner during covid
who found Quats
Gerhard Domagk, originally used as a biocidal activity
Structure of Quats
Discovered if at least one of the groups borne by the cationic nitrogen was a long-chained alkyl group, the compound could kill microbes.
How do quats work?
The positive charge allows it to adhere to negatively-charged surfaces of bacteria and viruses.
Once attached to bacteria, long alkyl chain inserts into the microbes’ lipid membranes, bursting this outer layer and causing cellular contents to leak out.
Against viruses, quats disrupt their protein and lipid structures.
Quats use other than disinfection
preservative for wood treatments and eye drops
antiseptic ingredient in mouthwashes, nasal sprays, and throat lozenges
pesticides
surfactants in detergents and shampoos, dryer sheets, fabric softeners
removing oil/gas from the earth
Mouse story with Quats
Quats cause a gab in the neural tube that did not close between brain and spinal chord
Her control mice suddenly also showed the neural tube gap
Changed disinfectant to Quats which was causing the neural tube gaps
What happens to a substance after it is absorbed?
after a substance is absorbed it is distributed through the blood, lymph circulation, and extracellular fluids
then the substance or its metabolites are eliminated through the body’s waste products
Xenobiotics
substances that are foreign to the body or to an ecological system.
transporters
aka transport proteins, play an important role in the process of ADME, active transport
Diffusion
net movement of a substance traveling down its concentration gradient (high to low)
Facilitated diffusion
molecules moving from high to low concentration but using a protein channel to cross membrane
factors affecting rate of diffusion
distance, temperature, characteristics of the solvent, characteristics of the molecules, characteristics of the barrier (selectively permeable phospholipid bilayer), changing of concentrations