Toxicology: Environmental Health

        
 80% of U.S. streams contain 82 contaminants

– Antibiotics, detergents, drugs, steroids, solvents, etc

92% of all aquifers contain 42 volatile organic compounds (from gasoline, paints, plastics, etc.)
– Less than 2% violate federal health standards for drinking water.
Pesticides are present in streams and groundwater in levels high enough to affect aquatic life.
Synthetic chemicals are in all of us
Every one of us carries traces of hundreds of industrial chemicals in our bodies.
– Including toxic persistent organic pollutants restricted by international treaties
Babies are born “pre‐polluted” – 232 chemicals were in umbilical cords of babies tested
Not all synthetic chemicals pose health risks but very few of the 100,000 chemicals on the market
have been tested

Toxicants come in different types
• Carcinogens = cause cancer
– Hard to identify because of the long time between
exposure and onset of cancer
• Mutagens = cause DNA mutations
– Can cause cancer
• Teratogens = cause birth defects in embryos
• Neurotoxins = assault the nervous system
• Allergens = overactivate the immune system
• Endocrine disruptors = affect the endocrine
(hormone) system