Essentials
The __________ makes the ___________poison.
The dose makes the poison.
What are the two types of dose response curves?
Graded and quantal
Cancer and non-cancer.
Why do we need to estimate effects?
Because we can't/don't experiment on humans!
BREIFLY tell me a story from the history of toxicology
Discretion of Dr. McLarnan
What are the 3 primary routes of exposure?
Dermal
Oral
What does LOAEL stand for?
Lowest observed adverse effect level
A toxic agent that affects levels of deer population by causing die off of wolves is at occurring at which ecological level?
Community.
Which level of government can set more strict laws regarding toxic exposures?
State
The body’s process of maintaining balance
Homeostasis
Definition: Any substance that causes a harmful effect when administered in small quantities and acts systematically
Poison
What determines whether a data point is meaningfully different from the control?
Statistical significance
Toxicity that affects a fetus in-utero is in which sub-category of non-cancer effects?
Developmental
What number do we (generally) divide by for each uncertainty factor?
10
Toxicity = Potency x __________
Exposure
Which level of human body organization (e.g. molecular, cellular, tissue, organs) do toxic effects occur at?
Any!
The "safe" dose for a compound, seen at the NOAEL, is also called the __________
Threshold.
Which category of effects does not exhibit a threshold?
Cancer
What are the 4 potential uncertainty factors we may need to adjust for?
Subchronic > Chronic
Animal > Human
Human Variability
What are two reasons it is difficult to accurately report toxicology news?
“Bad” news is more dramatic
Reporters typically lack scientific qualifications
Stories are on a deadline
Biased sources may lead to misreporting
The public does not have significant knowledge in order to fact check
What are two of the many chemical properties that determine toxicity?
Size, shape, lipophilicity, pH, polarity, reactivity, solubility etc.
How do we calculate an EC50 from a graded dose response curve?
Dose at 1/2 the maximum effect.
Toxic agents that work through epigenetics alter ____________ ____________.
Gene expression
What is the first step in the risk assessment process?
Hazard identification
Name 2 ways in which food may contain toxic agents.
Naturally Occurring
Improper Storage
Improper Preparation
Food Additives
Preparation (e.g. charring)