Chapter 14 - Enviornmental Health & Toxicology
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Created by:
KarynnaOkabeMiyamoto on February 17, 2012
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24 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 Acute exposure | Exposure to a hazardous substance over a short period of time or at a high dose. |
| Allergens | Substances that activate the immune system and cause an allergic response. |
| Bioaccumulation | The accumulation of a substance, such as a toxic chemical, in various tissues of a living organism. |
| Biomagnification | The accumulation of pollutants at successive levels of the food chain. |
| Carcinogens | Substances and agents that are known to cause cancer. |
| Chronic exposure | Continuing exposure to toxins over a long period of time, thus chronic toxicity. |
| Dose-response curve | Shows the effect of different doses on a population of test organisms. |
| ED50 | The drug dose that produces results (therapeutic effect) on 50% of the population. |
| Endocrine disruptors | A toxicant that interferes with the endocrine (hormone) system. |
| Environmental health | The science of external factors that cause disease, including elements in the natural, social, cultural and technological worlds. |
| Environmental toxicology | The study of toxicants that come from or are discharged into the environment, including the study of health effects on humans, other animals, and ecosystems. |
| Epidemiological studies | Referred to as observational studies - involve assessing nutritional habits, disease trends, or other health phenomena of large populations and determining the factors that may influence these phenomena. |
| Infection disease | A disease that can pass from one organism to another; cause by virus or bacteria. |
| LD50 | The amount of a chemical that kills 50% of the animals in a test population. |
| Mutagens | A chemical or physical agent that interacts with DNA and causes a mutation. |
| Neurotoxins | Toxic substances, such as lead or mercury, that specifically poison nerve cells. |
| Risk | The probability of becoming infected given that exposure to an infectious agent has occurred. |
| Risk assessment | Determining the damage that would result from an attack and the likelihood that the vulnerability is a risk to the organization. |
| Risk management | The practice of considering the risk of actions taken and taking steps to minimize the risk associated with them. |
| Synergistic effects | The combined effects of two pollutants are greater than the sum of their seperate effects. |
| Teratogens | Agents, such as chemicals and viruses, that can reach the embryo or fetus during prenatal development and cause harm. |
| Threshold dose | The maximum dose that has no measurable effect. |
| Toxicant | A chemical with adverse effects on health. |
| Toxicology | The study of poisonous substances and their effects upon body parts. |
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