Risk Assessment and Analysis Flashcards
(see risk assessment in context of agriculture)
(see risk assessment in context of agriculture)
father of toxicology who said all things are poison and nothing is without poison only the dose permits something to be not poisonous
Paracelsus
mother of toxicology; an applied toxicologists who had poisons in her jewelery which caused death to her suitors
Lucrezia Borgia
legal definition of poison
see table of ld for humans
chemical that has a lethal dose (LD50) less than or equal to 50 mg of chemical per kg of body weight
® 50 mg/kg is approximately ¾ tsp. for the average adult, and
about 1/8 tsp. for the average 2-year-old
How does dose of poison play a role in risk assessment?
® Relationship of dose and size: a smaller person would require a smaller dose of poison for it to be lethal, as
compared to a larger person
® Children
this is used for inhalation work; determined by exposing several groups of animals (e.g. rats or
mice) each to a different air concentration of chemical for a onehour
period, then they are observed for a 14-day period
lethal concentration 50
x-axis and y-axis of dose-response curve
- X-axis: dose/concentration (mg/kg)
* Y-axis: response
How much of a particular compound kills 50% of the
population
LD50
A wider range of toxicity indicates (preferred)?
a narrower margin of error = need for ra
second part of risk assessment
toxicity assessment
This was recognised first in occupational illness
chronic toxicity
certain trades with poorer health as noted by greek physicians
mining, metallurgy, pottery
Hippocrates described what? (re: toxicity assessment)
severe colic in men who extracted metals (lead poisoning)
Poisoning which Pliny wrote about
mercury poisoning in miners from quicksilver mines of Spain
Ways of exposure to lead
- Water supply – in old pipes
- Naturally occurring lead
- Lead as a contaminant – in air and water
- In USA, especially the North America, lead was used in painting houses
Refers to the ability of a substance to do systemic damage as a result of a one-time exposure of relatively short duration
Acute toxicity (inversely related with LD: mgchemical/kg of body weight)
what does ld 0 and ld100 mean?
- LD0 = no resultant deaths
- LD100 = death of the entire population
Refers to the harmful systemic effects produced by long-term,
low-level exposure to chemicals
Chronic toxicity
synonym for toxicity
hazard (more complex due to involvement of conditions of use)
Two components of hazard
• Inherent ability of the chemical to do harm by virtue of its explosiveness, flammability, corrosiveness, toxicity, etc.
• The ease with which contact can be established between
the chemical and the object of concern
pathway by which chemical gets into body
routes of exposure
three major routes of exposure
dermal entry (most common way; skin = 20 sq ft effective barier)
inhalation (2nd most common)
oral (through ingestion)
T or F: lungs are very effective barrier to chemicals
false, poor (lung surface: 750 sq ft has delicate one cell thick membrane wc allows easy passage of o2 and other harmful chemicals as well from alveolar space to blood)
collective term for the damage to lung surfaces caused by foreign objects
pneumoconiosis
causes: asbestos, silica, dust, cotton, coal, sugar cane pulp
Chemicals that enter body are absorbed through where?
GI tract (can occur from mouth to rectum; majority: SI)
Where is nitroglycerine usually absorbed through?
mucus membranes of the mouth, that is why it is taken and placed under the tongue.