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ENV-2603 Final Exam > Topic 7 - Toxicology > Flashcards

Topic 7 - Toxicology Flashcards

1
Q

What types of hazards and risks do we face?

A
  1. Toxicity
  2. Chemical hazards
  3. Biological hazards and diseases
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2
Q

Tobacco is responsible for how many deaths in Canada?

A

1 in every 5

100 deaths/day

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3
Q

How many people die from smoking per year?

A

37,000

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4
Q

What are cultural hazards?

A

Working conditions, smoking, poor diet, drugs, drinking, driving, criminal assault, unsafe safe, poverty

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5
Q

What are chemical hazards?

A

Harmful chemicals in the air, water, soil, and food

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6
Q

What are physical hazards?

A

Fire, tornado, hurricane, flood, volcanic eruption, earthquake

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7
Q

What are biological hazards?

A

Pathogens, pollen and other allergens, and animals such as bees and venomous snakes

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8
Q

What is risk assessment?

A

Scientific process of estimating how much harm a particularly hazard can cause to human health

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9
Q

What is risk management?

A

Risk management involves deciding whether or how to reduce a particular risk to a certain level and at what cost

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10
Q

What is toxicity?

A

Measure of the amount of harm caused by a compound

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11
Q

What is dose?

A

Quantity ingested, inhaled, absorbed

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12
Q

What is frequency?

A

Frequency of exposure to the compound

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13
Q

What is personal traits?

A

Age, organ function, genes

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14
Q

What factors affect the toxicity of a substance?

A
  1. Solubility
  2. Persistence
  3. Bioaccumulation
  4. Biomagnification
  5. Chemical interactions (antagonistic vs. synergistic)
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15
Q

What are water-soluble toxins?

A

Inorganic compounds that can move throughout the environment and get into water supplies and the aqueous solutions that surround the cells in our bodies

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16
Q

What are oil (or fat) soluble toxins?

A

Organic compounds that can penetrate the membranes surrounding an organism’s cells because the membranes allow similar oil-soluble chemicals to pass through them

Oil (or fat) soluble toxins can accumulate in body tissues and cells

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17
Q

What is persistence?

A

The resistance to breaking down (e.g. the pesticide DDT)

They can have long-lasting harmful effects on the health of wildlife and people

18
Q

What is bioaccumulation?

A

An increase in the concentration of a chemical in specific organs or tissues at a level higher than would normally be expected

Some potential toxins in the environment are magnified as they pass through food chains and webs

19
Q

What is biomagnification?

A

An increase in concentration of DDT, PCBs, and other slowly degradable, fat-soluble chemicals in organisms at successively higher trophic levels of a food chain or web

Some potential toxins in the environment are magnified as they pass through food chains and webs

20
Q

What are antagonistic interactions?

A

They can reduce harmful effects

Example: vitamins E and A interact to reduce the body’s response to some cancer-causing chemicals

21
Q

What are synergistic interactions?

A

They multiply effects

Example: workers exposed to tiny fibres of asbestos increase their chances of getting lung cancer 20-fold. But asbestos workers who also smoke have a 400-fold increase in lung cancer rates.

In such cases, 1 + 1 can be a lot greater than 2

22
Q

What is aflatoxin?

A

Carcinogen produced by molds in peanut butter and corn

23
Q

How do scientists use lab experiments to estimate toxicity?

A

Exposing a population of live lab animals (e.g. mice and rats) to known amounts of a chemical is the most widely used method for determining its toxicity

24
Q

What is lethal dosage?

A

Aka lethal concentration

The dose it takes to kill 50% of the population

25
Q

What are acute tests?

A

Meant to establish the effect of a single large dose or exposure to the chemical and are run for a short standard period (e.g. 96 hours)

26
Q

What are chronic tests?

A

Meant to establish the effect of lower-dose, longer-term exposure to the chemical and are run for a longer standard period (e.g. 28 days)

27
Q

What is the difference between toxic chemicals and hazardous chemicals?

A

Toxic kills, hazardous causes various types of harm

28
Q

What is a poison/toxin?

A

Can cause temporary or permanent harm or death to humans or animals

29
Q

What is a hazardous chemical?

A

Can harm humans or other animals because it is flammable or explosive

30
Q

What are mutagens?

A

Possible DNA mutations

31
Q

What are teratogens?

A

Harm or birth defects in utero

32
Q

What are carcinogens?

A

Promote malignant tumour growth

33
Q

What are neurotoxins?

A

Harmful to the nervous system, including behaviour, paralysis, and death

34
Q

What are hazardous chemicals?

A
  1. Flammable
  2. Explosive
  3. Irritant or allergen
  4. Interfere w/ oxygen (O2) uptake
35
Q

What is the 3rd most polluting industry in North America?

A

Pulp and paper mills

36
Q

How many chemicals have been identified in pulp/paper mill effluents?

A

More than 250

37
Q

What is the government doing to protect our environment?

A

The gov. of Canada plays a key role in protecting the environment from harmful chemicals

E.g. the manufacture, import and use of chemicals are regulated by a number of laws

38
Q

What are hormonally active agents (HAAs)?

A

Certain synthetic chemicals that can mimic and disrupt the effects of natural human hormones due to human exposure (e.g. DDT, PCB, certain herbicides)

39
Q

What is a non-transmissible disease?

A

Caused by something other than a living organism and does not spread from one person to another

40
Q

What is a transmissible disease?

A

Caused by living organisms and can spread from one person to another

ENV-2603 Final Exam (4 decks)

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