Chapter 12

a substance that acts as a poison to humans or wildlife

the degree to harm a chemical substance can inflict

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

a toxic chemical stored or manufactured in the tissues of living organisms. for example, a chemical that plants use to ward off hervibors or that insects use to deter predators

the study of toxicants that come from or are distributed into the environment, including the study of health effects on humans, animals, and other ecosystems

a toxicant that causes mutations in the DNA of organisms

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

a chemical or type of radiation that causes cancer

a toxicant that over activates the immune system, causing an immune response when one is not necassary

a toxicant that interferes with the endocrine (hormone) system

a toxicant that interrupts vital biochemical processes in organisms by blocking one or more steps in important biochemical pathways. compounds in the herbicide atrazine kill plants by blocking key components in the process of photosynthesis

a toxicant that assaults the nervous system. neurotoxins include heavy metals, pesticides, and some chemical weapons developed for use in war

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

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

the buildup of toxicants in the tissues of an animal

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

medical approach involving the observation and analysis of individual patients

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

a set of experiments that measure the response of test animals to different doses of toxicants. the response is generally quantified by measuring the proportion of animals exhbiting negative effects

the amount of toxicant a test animal recieves in a dose response test

the type or magnitude of negative effects on animal exhibits in response to a dose of toxicant in a dose-response analysis

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

the amount of a toxicant it takes to kill 50% of a population of test animals

the amount of a toxicant it takes to affect 50% of a population of test animals