Figure 1: Protective equipment is utilized when handling substances that are of toxic nature. (1)
Welcome to my blog! Here I will be discussing the general overview of toxic substances, and I will be covering four of them in specific details.
A substance is toxic if it causes damage, whether it be cellular, biochemical, and/or molecular, to living things. Toxicology looks at what adverse impacts a substance has on organisms, and it is made up of multiple facets: biotransformation, toxicokinetics, mechanism of action, carcinogenicity, target organs, signs and symptoms of toxicity, genetic susceptibility, heritable traits, treatments, biomarkers, and, for metals, essentiality and deficiency. (2)
Below are the four I selected from each class of toxic substances:
Methyl bromide: this belongs to the pesticides class. It is a substance that I wanted to learn more about, and I wanted to explore on why it’s banned yet still being used widely!
Magnesium: belonging to the metals class, I am familiar with this substance; I am a big supporter of Epsom salt baths, made of magnesium sulfate.
Methanol: being part of the solvents class, I knew you really shouldn’t drink beverages containing this! Sadly, we’ve had to learn this the hard way.
Striped bark scorpion: I chose this for my plants and animals category because I have always found scorpions to be fascinating. Growing up in Texas, I must have asked my poor parents about a million questions about them!
References:
- Toxic Substance Control Act Reform And Chemical Control [Internet]. A Better World is possible! 2017 [cited 2019Jul29]. Available from: https://www.betterworldinternational.org/planet/toxic-substance-control-act-reform-chemical/
- Eaton DL, Gilbert SG. Principles of Toxicology. In: Klaassen CD. eds. Casarett and Douell’s Toxicology: The Basic Science of Poisons, Eighth Edition New York, NY: McGraw-Hill; 2013, https://accesspharmacy.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?bookid=958§ionid=53483721