TOXICOLOGY: A Taste of Poison Paradise

For students, the word TOXIC is not unfamiliar. Not just because of Britney’s famous song, but it’s also because this is what we say whenever we’re stressed out by all those schoolworks. I, myself, am guilty of saying this too often. And I am pretty sure that you have told this to someone, or someone had told you this before because of stress. With that, this made me curious. Why do we always relate this word to stress? What’s the actual meaning of this? Let’s take a quick glance on Toxicology in order to answer all those bugging questions in our minds. 

TOXICOLOGY

http://worldsymbols.blogspot.com/2009/09/toxic-symbol.html

Toxicology is the study of the adverse effects of chemicals, drugs, food and beverage additives on humans, its symptoms, mechanisms, detection and treatment of poisoning. Poisoning may occur when a substance is introduced to a human body which causes death or injury.

Toxicologists focus on the adverse effects of these chemicals which may be referred to as:

• Toxins—toxic chemicals which are produced within living organisms(e.g. Hemotoxin)
• Toxicants—toxic chemicals which are made by humans and introduced to the environment(e.g. pesticides)
• Poison—toxicants that may cause death or injury when taken in small amounts.

http://livelufflove.blogspot.com/2011/03/snake-venom.html

http://livelufflove.blogspot.com/2011/03/snake-venom.html

The LD50 is used to determine that kills half of the animals tested. This is a standard measure used to compare the toxicity of chemicals.

TOXICOKINETICS & TOXICODYNAMICS

http://pharmaxchange.info/press/2011/04/pharmacokinetics-basics-absorption-distribution-metabolism-and-excretion/

Toxicokinetics is the study of how the body handles poisons. This is composed of four processes:

Toxicodynamics, on the other hand, focuses on what poisons may do to the body. Poisons may give different effects to the body:

• Acute Effects—these are short term consequences of exposure to the body.
• Chonic Effects—these relate to much longer time

The higher the exposure to certain substances, the worse it could affect the body.

PREVENTION AND TREATMENT

Prevention may be done by practicing good occupational hygiene, in which one controls and evaluates health hazards in the working environment in order to protect the worker and the community.
For the treatment, one can do/take any of the following:

http://philippinenurse.blogspot.com/2007/12/drugs-and-antidotes.html

• Decontamination—when exposedphysically, one can do decontamintation through eye washes or showers
• Antidotes—these are procedures or medications given to counteract the poison

• Emetics—these could only be administered to conscious patients, and never in cases where corrosives are involved

Definitely, all of us had a taste of poison paradise. Good thing “stress” is the only poison we experience. That’s one thing we should be thankful of! With knowledge and information, we can avoid exposure to other toxic substances. So let’s be cautious and learn how to take care of ourselves and other people.

Thanks for reading! Tune in for other TOXIC topics! :)

References:
http://www.news-medical.net/health/Toxicology-What-is-Toxicology.aspx
http://www.eoearth.org/article/Toxicology
http://www.agius.com/hew/resource/toxicol.htm#prevent