Apes Ch.18 Flashcards
risk
the possibility of suffering harm from a hazard that can cause injury, disease, death, econ, envir.
expressed in probablility
risk assessment
scientific process of estimating how much harm a hazard can cause
risk management
deciding whether or how to reduce a particular risk to a cartain level`
4 types of hazards
cultural
bio
chem
physical
biological hazard
from pathogens that can infect humans
chemical hazard
from harmful chem in air, water, soil, food
physical hazard
fire, earthquake, volcano, flood, tornado, hurricane
cultural hazard
smoking, diet, drugs, drinking, driving, poverty
nontransmissible disease
not caused by living organisms and does not spread from one person to another. develop slowly.
asthma, disorders, malnutrition
transmissible/infectious disease
a pathogen (bacteria, virus, parasit) invades body and multiplies in cells. body cannot mobilize its defenses fast enough to keep the pathogen from interfering
bioterrorism
deliberate release of disease-causing bacteria/viruses into water, air, food supply of urban.
biosensors: quick detection of disease
epidemic
large scale outbreak of an infectious disease in an area/country
pandemic
global epidemic
reduce death rates/ infectious disease since 1950
due to
better health care
antibiotics
vaccines
but genetic immunity to antibiotics and disease-transmitting species of insects have become imune to pesticides
growing germ resistance to antibiotics
due to their rapid production- natural selection. transfer resistance to nonresistant bactueria even more quickly
factors that foster genetic resistance
- spread of bacteria around the globe
- overuse of pesticides- increase resistance
- overuse of antibiotics
- every major disease has strains that resist at least one of roughly 160 antibiotics
Tuberculosis
rapid spread in developing countries. most don’t appear sick
diagnosis is expensive in large hospitals
India-biosensors
recent increase due to lack of screening/control programs and genetic resistance
pop growth, urbanization, air travel increase contact btw pppl n spread TB. AIDS gets it easily
ppl stop taking drugs early not 6 months
Viral diseases
Flue- HIV- Hep B kills most
HIV- chimpanzees
SARS - wild animals sold in chinese food market
how to slow spread of HIV
reduce # of new infections below # of deaths
concentrate on ppl that are likely to spread the disease
provide free HIV testing
mass ads and edu programs for adult/students to help prevent disease. codom gap
provide low cost drug to slow the progress of disease
west nile virus
transmitted to humans by bite of mosquito that fed on infected birds. 1999: spread in US
severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)
china
flu-like
turn into pneumonia
contained in 2003
malaria
1/5 ppl
killed more ppl than all wars
no vaccine
parasite that is spread by bite of a certain mosquito species. destroy RBC: fever, chills, dweats, anemia. mostly children: brain damage
malaria mosquitos
protozoan parasite.
uninfeted female mosquito bites an infected personn and later bites the uninfected person. parasites multiply in the liver and enter blood cells . sharing needles. the cycle repeates till immunity, treatment, death
how to stop malaria
draining swamplands/marshes
spray insecticides in breeding areas
but increased due to mosquito genetic resistant to insecticides and parasite antimalarial drugs
provide window screen
cultivating fish that eat mosquito larvae
clearing vegetation
plant trees that soak up water in marh
zinc/Vit A supplement to boost resistance
spray insides of home with DDT pesticide
cheap treatment
chinese wormwood antimalarial drugs. little funding
solutions to infectious disease
increase research reduce poverty/malnutrition/ unnecessary use of antibiotic improve drinking water quality educate ppl immunize oral rehydration for diarrhea
ecological medicine
infectious disease are moving from one species to another.
disease spread from animals to humans bc ppl take over habitat (clear forests/rainforest- increase malaria’s range) international exotic trade, livestock in crowded feedlot expposes ppl
nipalt virus
malaysia pig farmers cleared forest displaced bats (flying foxes) and they lived in barnes. lay waste (infected with the virus) in pig’s drinking water. virus spread from pigs to humans. brain inflammation, death. contain whne pig farms are closed n killed
lyme disease
forest clearing to build in US caused more cases. ticks on deer/mice. expansion reduce population of fox/wildcats so prey popu increased and infected more ppl. lyme doesn’t spread btw ppl
e.coli n salmonella
global trade of livestock increse cases of food-borne infectious disease bc contamination with waste
toxic chemical
temp/perm harm/death to humans/animals
hazardous chem
harm animals bc flammable/explosive or irritate/damage skin/lungs, allergic rxn
3 types of potentially toxic agents
mutagens
teratogens
carcinogens
mutagens
chem/radiation cause increase in frequency of mutation in DNA. usually: no harm but may lead to cancer. can occur in reproductive cells passed to offspring.
nitrous acid mutagens
form digesting nitrite preservatives in food cause mutation: stomach cancer
teratogens
chem that cause harm/birth defects to fetus/embryo
alcohol, arsenic, benzene, chlorine, chloroform, DDT, lead, mercury, PCBs
ethyl alcohol
teratogens
drinking during pregnancy lead to low birth weight n other problems
metastasis
malignant cells break off from tumors and travel to other parts and start new tumors. 10-40 year gap btw exposure with carcinogen to symptoms
Effects of chem on body system
long term exposure to some chemicals at low doses may disrupt body systems
effects of chem on immune system
specialized cells and tissues that protect the body against disease and substances. weakened by arsenic and dioxin
neurotoxin
harm nervous systm/neurons
PCBs, methyl mercury, arsenic, lead, pesticides
endocrine system
releases hormones into bloodstreams of vertebrate animals. hormones turn on and off bodily system that control sexual and learning
hormonally active agents HAA
hormone mimics
synthetic chem mimic hormones, disrupt endocrine system.
DDT, PCBs, atrazine and herbicides., some attach to estrogen receptor
disrupt natural hormones in wild animals with low levels
need more research low levels on human. widely used chem and restriction could cause economic losses. controversial. safety measure were in bad conditions too. company paid compensation but did not admit guilt
hormone blockers- HAA
preventing natural hormones such as androgens from attaching to their receptors
gender benders- HAA
estrogen mimics n hormone blackers that possibly effect on sexual development/reproduction. excess in males can presence of both male and female sex organs or other problems
thyroid distrupters HAA
pollutants that cause growth, weight, behavioral disorders.
pthalates
softeners in PVC plastics and beauty products and baby stuff. high doses cause birth defects and liver/kidney damage in animals. hinder male reproductive organs and feminize them
Bhopal india
worst industrial accident 1984
pesticide manufacture plant Union carbibe. explosion in underground storage tank release MIC gas used to produce carbamate pesticides. due to water leak into the tank.
could’ve been prevent if equipment upgrade and maintenance
MIC gas
in atmosphere, convert to deadly hydrogen cyanide has settle over the surrounding area and killed-injured ppl up till today.
concern about it happening in the US- terrorist acts against chem plants, pp, refineries
toxicology
science that examines the effects of harmful chem on living things and ecosystem
toxicity
measure of how harmful a substance is in causing harm to living organisms. depends on: dose how ofen the exposure occured who is exposed body's detoxification system work genetic makeup solubility persistence/resistance to breaksown bioaccumulation biomagnification chemical interactions
dose
amt of a substance a person has ingest, inhale, absorbed through the skin
MCS
multiple chemical sensitivity
individuals that are sensitive to a number of toxins
water soluable toxin
inorganic, can move throuhgout envir and into water supplies
oil/fat soluable- organic can penetrat membranes and accumlate in cells
bioaccumulation
molecules are absorbed and stored at higher than normal level
biomagnification
levels of toxins become magnified as they pas to higher levels in food chain. organisms at low trophic levels ingest only small amount of toxin but next level eats many of those organisms will take in increasingly larger amount
ex. long lived, fat solube: DDT, PCB
chemical interaction of toxicity
decrease/multiply harmful effects of a toxin
antagonistic interaction: reduce harm. Vitamins
Synergistic interaction: multiplies harmful effect
response
type and amount of health damage that result from exposure to chem
acute effect
immeduatee/rapid harful reaction to exposure
chronic effect
permanent/ long lasting consequence from exposure to a single dose or repeated lower
concept of toxicology
chemical can be harmful if ingested in large enough quantitiy
3 major mechanisms for reducing the harmful effects of chem
- break down, dilute, excrete small amount of toxins to keep from reaching harmful levels. liver/kidneys-can overload
cells have enzymes that can repair damage to DNA and protein
some cells can reproduce fast enough to replace damaged
poison/toxin
chemical that adversely affects the health of animal by causing injury/death
trace levels of toxic chem
may or may not be harmful after exposure bc lack of data. controversial issues. small amt of toxic chem is everywhere: false impressions of increasing dangers. many synthetic chem are safe while natural chem is deadly
we know little about harmful effects of chem
under existing laws, its hard/expensive to estimate their toxicity. methods for estimating toxicity levels have limitation. exposure levels at 1/100
only 10% of synthetic chem in use have been thoroughly screened, 2% have been tested have cancer/birth defect and none are tested for harm to body system. 99.5% unregulated
controversy on prevention
EU push for pollution prevention. we should not release into the envir chem that can cause harm. find substitutes or recycle.
PRECAUTIONARY PRINCIPLE
based on incomplete evidence of harm
too expensivve and impossible to intorduce new chem/tech
introducing new chem- establishing its safety
- new would be harmful until scientific studies can show otherwise
- existing chem that appear to have a chance in causing harm should be removed from the market until more research
POP
persistent organic pollutants
global treaty that would ban use of 12 of them. DDT, PCBs, dioxins, furan, pesticides
evaluate risk
identify hazard and evaluate risks, ranking risks, making decisions about reducing risks and informing ppl
comparative risk analysis: greatest risks vs low risk- ranks.
daily risk are not that harmful.
poverty is the greatest- premature death and reduce life span
2nd greatest risk result from voluntary choices-avoid smoking, obese, exercise, no alcohol. prevent cancer
3rd: flu
estimating risks of tech
difficult bc unpredictability of human behavor, chance, sabotage. reliability/probability that a person/device will complete a task w/o failing
system reliability
tech reliability x human reliability
perceiving risks
pppl are poor at evaluating relative risks they face bc of misleading info
denial
irrational fears
smoking, hang gliding driving more dangerous flu, nuclear pp accident, airplane crash, snake/shark attack
4 factors can cause ppl to see a tech/product as being riskier than it really is
- degree of control
- fear of the unkown
- whether we voluntarily take the risk
- whether a risk is catastrophic not chronic.
single event vs over a long time - unfair ditribution of risk
