Toxicology And Environmental Toxicology

1. A) Assuming you are called to speak to a lay audience and a professional audience separately, how would you explain the following terms to them: toxicology and environmental toxicology?

Professional audience: Toxicology is a multidisciplinary, scientific field, which studies the hazards and adverse effects of xenobiotic agents on biotic components of the ecosystem. These biotic components include, but are not limited to the following: humans, animals, and plants. More importantly, the field of toxicology is also used to construct preventative measures, treatment, and other amelioration strategies relative to the adverse health effects and the agent(s) being analyzed. The field of toxicology has evolved from a science focused on poisons

The goal of the field of toxicology is to form ways to prevent, treat, and/or improve the negative health impacts. Environmental toxicology focuses on substances things like pesticides and lead, chemicals that can be released into the environment resulting in negative effects to the living organisms in the environment and the environment itself (Yu, Tsunoda, & Tsunoda,

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are an example of toxic substances, as they are made up of chlorine, carbon, and hydrogen and exude harmful properties such as endocrine disruption, carcinogenic effects, and bioaccumulation in living organisms and the environment/ecosystem. Toxins are chemicals that are produced naturally by living organisms that can be a potential danger to the ecosystem, especially its living populations. An example of a toxin is venom produced by snakes and spiders. It is important to note that toxins and chemicals are not the same. All chemicals are NOT toxins, but all toxins are chemicals. Toxicants are chemicals that enter the environment through anthropogenic activities. Toxicants are often characterized as “man-made.” Herbicides are a good example of a toxicant, as they are harmful chemicals used to eliminate the presence of unwanted plant growth, and are introduced into the environment by humans, usually farmers and agricultural workers. Poisons are chemical substances that can cause harmful effects in the biological system of its host, upon exposure. Again, possible hosts include the environment, humans, plants, animals, and other biotic factors in the ecosystem. All chemicals could potentially become categorized as poisons, as the term