TOXICOLOGY 3

• Toxicology is the study of how natural or man made poisons cause undesirable effects on living organisms.
• Harmful or adverse effects are those that are damaging to either the survival or normal function of the individual.
• Toxicity describes the degree to which a substance is poisonous or can can cause injury.
• Toxicity depends on dose, duration and route of exposure, shape and structure of the chemical itself and individual human factors
• Toxic is the term relates to poisonous or deadly effects on the body by inhalation (breathing), ingestion(eating) or absorption or by direct contact with a chemical
• Toxicant refers to any chemical that can injure or kill humans, animals or plants.

  Toxicant is used when talking about toxic substances that are produced by or are by –product of human –made activities.
• Toxin is used when talking about toxic substances produced naturally.

  Toxin is any poisonous substance or microbial (bacteria or other tiny plants or animals), vegetables, or synthetic chemical origin that reacts with specific cellular components to kill cells, alter growth or development, or kill the organism.
• Toxic symptoms is term includes any feeling indicating the presence of a poison in the system.
• Toxic effects refers to the health effects that occur due to exposure to a toxic substance; also known as a poisonous effect on the body.
• Selective toxicity means that a chemical will produce injury to one kind of living matter without harming another form of life , even though the two may exist close together.
• The dose is the actual amount of a chemical that enters the body.

  The dose received maybe due to either acute (short) or chronic( long term) exposure.

  Acute exposure occurs over a very short period of time , usually 24 hours. •

  Chronic exposure occur over long periods of time such as weeks, months, or years. The amount of exposure and the type of toxin will determine the toxic effect.