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Toxic Chemical Risks

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Environmental Toxicology

Abstract

At the present time there are approximately 100,000 chemicals in the environment, with an additional 500–1,000 added each year. Although not all these chemicals are toxic, merely keeping up-to-date information on the possible toxicity of so many compounds is a prodigious task. Federal agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) are responsible for establishing rules and guidelines that ensure, insofar as possible, that risks associated with exposure to toxic chemicals are within acceptable limits. Legislation such as the Clean Air Act, originally passed in 1963, and Clean Water Act, a 1977 amendment to the 1972 Federal Water Pollution Control Act, have done much to advance the cause of environmental safety. Ironically perhaps, in the United States the primary sources of exposure to toxic chemicals and poisons are related to lifestyle issues, including in particular smoking, drinking (alcohol), use/abuse of pharmaceutical and recreational drugs, and obesity. Most incidents of poisoning occur in the home, where unintentional exposure to toxic chemicals is often the result of ignorance and/or carelessness. Education and public awareness have therefore become important components of the effort to address the issue of exposure to toxic chemicals in the United States.

This chapter was originally published as part of the Encyclopedia of Sustainability Science and Technology edited by Robert A. Meyers. DOI:10.1007/978-1-4419-0851-3

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Abbreviations

Alkaloid:

A colorless, complex, and bitter organic base containing nitrogen and usually oxygen that is often physiologically active.

Analgesic:

Painkiller.

Apoptosis:

A genetically directed process of cell self-destruction that eliminates DNA-damaged, superfluous, or unwanted cells.

Cold turkey:

Cold flashes with goose bumps, one of the symptoms associated with withdrawal from a drug to which a person has become addicted.

Dopamine:

A neurotransmitter in the brain that plays an important role, inter alia, in behavior and reward.

Opioid:

A chemical that binds to and activates the opioid receptors in the nervous system and gastrointestinal tract; includes both natural opiates (derived from opium) and synthetic drugs possessing narcotic properties similar to opiates but not derived from opium.

Secondhand smoke:

Smoke inhaled by a nonsmoker and consisting of mainstream smoke (smoke exhaled by a smoker) and sidestream smoke (smoke from the end of a lighted cigarette, pipe, or cigar).

Teratogenic:

Causing developmental malformations.

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  1. Louisiana State University, School of the Coast and Environment, 3141 Energy, Coast and Environment Building, Baton Rouge, LA, 70803, USA

    Edward A. Laws

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    Edward A. Laws

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Laws, E.A. (2013). Toxic Chemical Risks. In: Laws, E. (eds) Environmental Toxicology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5764-0_20

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