Toxicology

Question 1

List the contaminant classes and give a description

Answer 1

inorganic: not living, not carbon based

organic: carbon based

microbial: viruses, pathogens

radioactive

Question 2

what is the toxicity threshold?

Answer 2

the amount of contaminant that will cause harm in an organism

Question 3

list some harms toxicity can cause

Answer 3

mutations
fertility loss
death

Question 4

what are the three factors that toxicity depends on?

Answer 4

concentration
type of organism
duration of exposure

Question 5

what is the difference between toxicity threshold and a lethal dose

Answer 5

toxicity threshold: the minimum level of concentration needed to cause harm

lethal dose: the amount needed to kill in a single dose

Question 6

what is LD50

Answer 6

the dose that kills 50% of individuals

Question 7

what is bio accumulation

Answer 7

it is the degree to which a toxin can accumulate in a living organism through inhalation, ingestion and dermal exposure

Question 8

what’s the problem with bio accumulation

Answer 8

they resist natural degradation

Question 9

how does bio accumulation occur

Answer 9

once the contaminated producer is consumed, the toxin becomes stored in the fat tissues of the consumer. Since the consumer has to eat a lot of plants, the toxin becomes more and more accumulated

Question 10

when it comes to toxicity, does it increase or decrease when moving through the trophic levels?

Answer 10

increase since it degrades slowly/ is not metabolized

Question 11

list 3 ways to help with contamination in ecosystems and describe them

Answer 11

biomediation : take microbes that can degrade certain contaminants and release them

phytomediation : use plants to remediate an area

Waste water treatment: reuse and clean water