EMA Lecture 9 Flashcards

1
Q

What is a contaminant?

A

Substance released due to human activity

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2
Q

What is a pollutant (compared to contaminant)

A

A pollutant causes a biological effect

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3
Q

What is POP?

A

Persistent Organic Pollutants are chemical substances that are toxic, persist in environment for long periods of time, bioaccumulate in food chain, and cause health risk to humans and environment

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4
Q

What is an effect of toxins in the environment?

A

-Impact the physiology or behaviour of an organism and reduce growth, reproduction or survival
-Can indirectly reduce prey species

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5
Q

What are some everyday exposure routes of toxins?

A

Dermal exposure (skin)
Accumulation
Transfer (mother to child)
Oral exposure
Inhalation exposure

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6
Q

What are some anthropogenic sources of toxic pollutants

A

-Industrial effluent
-Oil spills
-Pesticide in agricultural runoff
-Sewage waste
-Hazardous waste
-Combustion

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7
Q

What is CAS

A

Registry of chemicals

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8
Q

How many chemicals are registered with CAS?

A

171 million unique organic and inorganic chemical substances

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9
Q

What does EU legislation require in relation to medicines for human or animal use?

A

-They must be subjected to an environmental risk assessment
-Only compulsory for new products since 30th October 2005

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10
Q

What questions are asked about new medicinal drugs in relation to the environment?

A

-How much of drug will enter the environment
-How will organisms be affected from exposure
-Is the environmental risk acceptable

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11
Q

What are the three exposure assessment rates at different spatial scales for PEC?

A

-Local
-Regional
-European

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12
Q

What does PEC stand for?

A

Predicted Environmental Concentration

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13
Q

What does PNEC stand for?

A

Predicted No-Effect Concentration

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14
Q

What is the acceptable risk concentration?

A

PEC/PNEC <1

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15
Q

What is an unacceptable risk concentration?

A

PEC/PNEC >1

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16
Q

What does ERA stand for?

A

European Research Area

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17
Q

What can information from an ERA be used for?

A

-Compare the relative environmental risk of different drugs
-Minimise the amount of medicinal product released into the environment
-Identify guidelines for proper use and disposal for consumers

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18
Q

What are some issues in risk assessments?

A

-Organisms are exposed to low levels over long periods of time - hard to replicate in lab
-Toxicity tests are acute tests, short
-More information is needed on chronic toxicity

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19
Q

What is an additive drug reaction?

A

Occurs when the combined effect of two drugs is equal to the sum of each drug being given alone
1 + 1 = 2

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20
Q

Name an example of additive drug interactions

A

Heparin and alcohol will increase bleeding

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21
Q

What is drug synergism?

A

Occurs when drugs interact with each other and produce an effect that is greater than the sum of their separate actions
1 + 1 = 3

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22
Q

What’s an example of synergism drug interaction

A

Nicotine and alcohol

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23
Q

What is an antagonistic drug reaction?

A

Occurs when one drug interferes with the action of another, causing neutralisation or a decrease in effect of the other drug

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24
Q

Why are pesticides used?

A

Public health, mosquitoes

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25
Q

How many species of Anopheles carry a protozoan parasite that causes malaria?

A

60 out 380

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26
Q

What is another use for pesticides?

A

Agriculture

27
Q

What are the benefits of pesticide use in farming?

A

-Increased yields
-Chemical herbicides control weeds
-Rows of plants can be planted closer together
-Insecticides control pests instead of crop rotation

28
Q

When was pesticides beginning to expand?

A

After 1945

29
Q

Why does forestry use pesticides?

A

-Reduce damage done by insect pests
-Applied by aerial methods

30
Q

What damage did the gypsy moth do in America in 1981?

A

Defoliation of 40,000 km 2

31
Q

Why did pesticide use explode after 1945?

A

More widely available
Efforts to increase world food supply

32
Q

What are the problems of indiscriminate use of pesticides?

A

-Non target species are killed
-Pests develop resistant
-Persistent in environment
-Food chain magnification

33
Q

How are pesticides classified?

A

-Target species
-Chemical nature
-Mode or time of action

34
Q

What are chlorinated organics?

A

Consist of Cl atoms attached to organic moieties
Stable and accumulate in lipid tissue
Biomagnification and food chain transfer
Highly toxic to fish and birds

35
Q

What does DDT stand for?

A

dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane

36
Q

What chemical group does DDT belong to

A

Organochlorines (OCs) or chlorinated hydrocarbons

37
Q

What is the chemical structure of DDT like?

A

Has at least one covalently bonded atom of chlorine that has effect on the chemical behaviour

38
Q

What are some other examples of OCs?

A

PCBs
Aldrin
Mirex
Toxaphone
All are banned or restricted

39
Q

When was the insecticidal properties of DDT discovered and by whom

A

1939 by Swiss chemist Paul Muller

40
Q

What was peak production of DDT?

A

US - 82,000 tons in 1963

41
Q

When was DDT banned in the US for agricultural use?

A

1972

42
Q

How does DDT kill?

A

It is a nerve toxin
-Interferes with neurotransmission
Not species specific
Can persist in environment
Can kill months later

43
Q

Why is DDT so harmful to the environment?

A

-Slow to break down, can be in environment for years
-Not water soluble
-Bioaccumulate and are stored in fat tissue

44
Q

How long is the soil life of DDT

A

50% remains in soil for 2-15 years

45
Q

How long is the half life of DDT in the aquatic environment?

A

Over 150 years

46
Q

What does lipophilic mean?

A

Soluble in fat, oils and lipids

47
Q

What does bioaccumulation mean?

A

Accumulate in fat cells of animals

48
Q

What is biomagnification?

A

When something passes through food chains
Top predators are exposed to high doses

49
Q

What can be the effects of toxins on insects?

A

Death

50
Q

What is the effect of toxins of fish?

A

Reproductive effects
Neurotoxin effects

51
Q

What is the effects of toxins on birds?

A

Eggshell thinning

52
Q

What is the effects of toxins on mammals?

A

Liver and kidney damage
Neurotoxin effects
Teratogenic effects (mice)
Carcinogenic effects likely

53
Q

What is a metabolite of DDT?

A

DDE

54
Q

What does DDE stand?

A

Dichlorodiphenyl dichloroethene

55
Q

Why is DDE a problem?

A

Produced slowly by degradation in environment
Fat soluble and mimics the action of estradiol and causes decline in androgen synthesis

56
Q

How is DDE harmful to birds?

A

Causing egg shell thinning
- Caused declines of peregrine falcon, brown pelican, bald eagle and Californian condor

57
Q

What are organophosphates?

A

Consists of one or more phosphate groups attached to an organic moiety

58
Q

When were organophosphates first marketed?

A

1944

59
Q

What is DDT still use for today?

A

-Control of disease carrying organisms in parts of the world
-2007 COP in Stockholm concluded it still needed to be used to control disease vectors

60
Q

What does Cd stand for?

A

Cadmium

61
Q

What does Hg stand for?

A

Mercury

62
Q

What does HCB stand for?

A

Hexachlorobenzene

63
Q

What does PCB stand for?

A

Polychlorinated biphenyls

64
Q

How much Persistent organic pollutants need to be eliminated?

A

14 million tonnes