Chapter 17

Front 1

Disease

Back 1

Any impaired function of the body with a characteristic set of symptoms

Front 2

Infectious disease

Back 2

A disease caused by a pathogen

Front 3

Chronic disease

Back 3

A disease that slowly impairs functioning of an organism

Front 4

Acute disease

Back 4

A disease that rapidly impairs the functioning of an organism

Front 5

Epidemic

Back 5

A situation in which a pathogen causes a rapid increase in disease

Front 6

Pandemic

Back 6

An epidemic that occurs over a large geographic region

Front 7

Plague

Back 7

An infectious disease caused by the bacterium Yersinia Pestis, carried by fleas

Front 8

Malaria

Back 8

An infectious disease caused by one of several specied of protists in the genus Plasmodium

Front 9

Tuberculosis

Back 9

A highly contagious disease caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis that primarily infects the lungs

Front 10

Emergent infectious diseases

Back 10

An infectious disease that has not been previously described or has not been common for at least 20 years

Front 11

Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS)

Back 11

An infectious disease caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)

Front 12

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)

Back 12

A virus that causes acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS)

Front 13

Ebola hemorrhagic fever

Back 13

An infectious disease with high death rates, caused by the Ebola virus

Front 14

Mad cow disease

Back 14

A disease in which prions mutate into deadly pathogens and slowly damage a cow's nervous system

Front 15

Prions

Back 15

A small, beneficial protein that occasionally mutates into a pathogen

Front 16

Neurotoxins

Back 16

A chemical that disrupts the nervous system of animals

Front 17

Carcinogens

Back 17

Chemicals that cause cancer

Front 18

Mutagens

Back 18

Carcinogens that cause damage to the genetic material of a cell

Front 19

Teratogen

Back 19

Chemicals that interfere with the normal development of embryos and fetuses

Front 20

Allergens

Back 20

A chemical that causes allergic reaction

Front 21

Dose-response studies

Back 21

A study that exposes organisms to different amounts of a chemical and then observes a variety of possible responses, including morality or changes in behavior or reproduction

Front 22

Acute studies

Back 22

An experiment that exposes organisms to an environmental hazard for a short duration

Front 23

LD50

Back 23

The lethal dose of a chemical that kills 50 percent of the individuals in a dose-response study

Front 24

Sublethal effects

Back 24

The effects of an environmental hazard that are not lethal, but which may impair an organism's behavior, physiology, or reproduction

Front 25

ED50

Back 25

An abbreviation for the effective dose of a chemical that cause 50 percent of the individuals in a dose-response study to display a harmful, but nonlethal, effect

Front 26

Chronic studies

Back 26

An experiment that exposes organisms to an environmental hazard for a long duration

Front 27

Epidemiology

Back 27

The study of the causes of illness and disease in the populations of humans and other organisms

Front 28

Retrospective studies

Back 28

A study that monitors people who have been exposed to an environmental hazard at some time in the past

Front 29

Prospective studies

Back 29

A study that monitors people who might become exposed to harmful chemicals in the future

Front 30

Synergistic interactions

Back 30

Risks that cause more harm together than expected based on separate individual risks

Front 31

Routes of exposure

Back 31

The way in which an individual might come into contact with an environmental hazard

Front 32

Solubility

Back 32

How well a chemical dissolves in a liquid

Front 33

Persistence

Back 33

The length of time a chemical remains in the environment

Front 34

Environmental hazard

Back 34

Anything in the environment that can potentially cause harm

Front 35

Innocent-until-proven-guilty principle

Back 35

A principle based on the philosophy that a potential hazard should not be considered an actual hazard until the scientific data definitively demonstrate that it actually causes harm

Front 36

Precautionary principle

Back 36

A principle based on the philosophy that action should be taken against a plausible environmental hazard

Front 37

Stockholm Convention

Back 37

A 2001 agreement among 127 nations concerning 12 chemicals to be banned, phased out, or reduced

Front 38

REACH (registration, evaluation, authorization and restriction of chemicals)

Back 38

A 2007 agreement among the nations of the European Union about regulation of chemicals