Environmental Biology Chapter 10

Front 1

Bisphenol A (BPA)

Back 1

substance used in plastics and to line food and drink cans, which has raised health concerns because it is an estrogen mimic

Front 2

Environmental Health

Back 2

Environmental factors that influence human health and quality of life and the health of ecological systems essential to environmental quality and long term human well being

Front 3

Environmental Hazards

Back 3

the state of events which has the potential to threaten the surrounding natural environment and adversely affect peoples health. broken up into 4 major categories: physical, chemical, biological, and cultural.

Front 4

Physical hazard

Back 4

Physical processes that occur naturally in our environment and pose human health hazards. includes discrete events such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, fires, floods, blizzards, landslides, hurricanes and droughts, as well as ongoing natural phenomena such as ultraviolet radiation from sunlight

Front 5

Biological hazard

Back 5

human health hazards that result from ecological interactions among organisms. Includes parasitism by viruses, bacteria, or other pathogens.

Front 6

chemical hazard

Back 6

chemicals that pose human health hazards. Include toxins produced naturally, as well as many of the disinfectants, pesticides, and other synthetic chemicals that our society produces.

Front 7

cultural hazard

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Human health hazards that result from the place we live, the socioeconomic status, our occupation, or our behavioral choices. Includes choosing to smoke cigarettes or living or working with people who do.

Front 8

Infectious Disease

Back 8

A disease in which pathogens attack a host.

Front 9

toxicology

Back 9

the scientific field that examines the effects of poisonous chemicals and other agents on humans and other organisms

Front 10

toxicity

Back 10

the degree of harm a chemical substance can inflict

Front 11

toxicant

Back 11

a substance that acts as a poison to human or wildlife

Front 12

environmental toxicology

Back 12

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

Front 13

toxins

Back 13

A toxic chemical stored or manufactured in the tissues of living organisms. For example a chemical that plants use to ward off herbivores or that insects use to deter predators.

Front 14

carcinogens

Back 14

A chemical or type of radiation that causes cancer

Front 15

mutagens

Back 15

A toxicant that causes mutations in the DNA of organisms

Front 16

teratogens

Back 16

A toxicant that causes harm to the unborn, resulting in birth defects

Front 17

neurotoxins

Back 17

A toxicant that attacks the nervous system. Neurotoxins include heavy metals, pesticides, and some chemical weapons developed for use in war.

Front 18

allergens

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A toxicant that over-activates the immune system, causing an immune response when one is not necessary.

Front 19

pathway inhibitors

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Any substance that interferes with a chemical reaction, growth, or other biologic activity

Front 20

endocrine distributors

Back 20

A toxicant that interferes with the endocrine system

Front 21

acute exposure

Back 21

exposure to a toxicant occurring in high amounts for short periods of time

Front 22

chronic exposure

Back 22

exposure for long periods of time to a toxicant occurring in low amounts

Front 23

pesticide drift

Back 23

Airborne transport of pesticides

Front 24

bioaccumulation

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The buildup of toxicants in the tissues of an animal

Front 25

biomagnification

Back 25

the magnification of the concentration of toxicants in an organism caused by its consumption of other organisms in which toxicants have bioaccumulated

Front 26

epidemiological studies

Back 26

A study that involves large scale comparisons among groups of people, usually contrasting a group known to have been exposed to some toxicant and a group that has not.

Front 27

dose-response analysis

Back 27

A set of experiments that measure the response of test animals to different doses of a toxicant. The response is generally quantified by measuring the proportion of animals exhibiting negative effects

Front 28

dose response

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A range of doses of a toxicant in which a response occurs

Front 29

dose-response curve

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A curve that plots the response of test animals to different doses of a toxicant, as a result of dose-response analysis

Front 30

LD50

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lethal dose 50%- The amount of a toxicant it takes to kill 50% of a population of test animals

Front 31

ED50

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Effective dose 50%- The amount of a toxicant it takes to affect 50% of a population of test animals.

Front 32

Threshold dose

Back 32

The amount of a toxicant at which it begins to affect a population of test animals

Front 33

Synergistic effects

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An interactive effect (as of toxicants) that is more than or different from the simple sum of their constituent effects

Front 34

risk assessment

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The quantitate measurement of risk, together with the comparison of risks involved in different activities or substances

Front 35

risk management

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The process of considering information from scientific risk assessment in light of economic, social, and political needs and values, in order to make decisions and design strategies to minimize risk.

Front 36

Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA)

Back 36

A 1976 US law that directs the Environmental Protection Agency to monitor thousands of industrial chemicals and gives the EPA authority to regulate and ban substances found to pose excessive risk

Front 37

REACH program

Back 37

Program that the European union that shifts the burden of proof for testing chemical safety from national governments to industry, and requires that chemical substances produced or imported in amounts of over 1 metric ton per year be registered with a new European Chemicals Agency. REACH stands for Registration, evaluation, Authorization, and restriction of chemicals. It went into effect in 2007.