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37 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
Bisphenol A (BPA) |
substance used in plastics and to line food and drink cans, which has raised health concerns because it is an estrogen mimic
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Environmental Health
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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
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Environmental Hazards
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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. |
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Physical hazard
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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
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Biological hazard
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human health hazards that result from ecological interactions among organisms. Includes parasitism by viruses, bacteria, or other pathogens. |
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chemical hazard
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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.
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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.
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Infectious Disease
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A disease in which pathogens attack a host.
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toxicology |
the scientific field that examines the effects of poisonous chemicals and other agents on humans and other organisms |
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toxicity
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the degree of harm a chemical substance can inflict
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toxicant
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a substance that acts as a poison to human or wildlife
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environmental toxicology
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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 |
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toxins
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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. |
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carcinogens
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A chemical or type of radiation that causes cancer |
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mutagens
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A toxicant that causes mutations in the DNA of organisms
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teratogens
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A toxicant that causes harm to the unborn, resulting in birth defects
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neurotoxins
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A toxicant that attacks the nervous system. Neurotoxins include heavy metals, pesticides, and some chemical weapons developed for use in war.
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allergens
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A toxicant that over-activates the immune system, causing an immune response when one is not necessary.
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pathway inhibitors
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Any substance that interferes with a chemical reaction, growth, or other biologic activity |
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endocrine distributors
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A toxicant that interferes with the endocrine system
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acute exposure
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exposure to a toxicant occurring in high amounts for short periods of time |
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chronic exposure
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exposure for long periods of time to a toxicant occurring in low amounts |
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pesticide drift
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Airborne transport of pesticides
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bioaccumulation
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The buildup of toxicants in the tissues of an animal |
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biomagnification
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the magnification of the concentration of toxicants in an organism caused by its consumption of other organisms in which toxicants have bioaccumulated
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epidemiological studies
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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.
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dose-response analysis
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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
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dose response
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A range of doses of a toxicant in which a response occurs |
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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
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LD50 |
lethal dose 50%- The amount of a toxicant it takes to kill 50% of a population of test animals
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ED50 |
Effective dose 50%- The amount of a toxicant it takes to affect 50% of a population of test animals.
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Threshold dose |
The amount of a toxicant at which it begins to affect a population of test animals
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Synergistic effects |
An interactive effect (as of toxicants) that is more than or different from the simple sum of their constituent effects
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risk assessment |
The quantitate measurement of risk, together with the comparison of risks involved in different activities or substances
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risk management |
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.
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Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) |
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
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REACH program
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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.
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