APES Textbook Reference Ch.

11

Risks are possibilities of suffering harm from

a hazard that can cause injury, disease,
economic loss or environmental damage.
Expressed in Terms of Probability
Risk=Exposure x Harm
Risk Assessment vs. Risk Management
Management is harder than assessment
because:
1) There is a lack of information
2)There are big economic, health and political
implications

1.
2.
3.
4.

Cultural
Physical
Biological
Chemical

Cultural Hazards
Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death
(data from 2009)

Physical
Hazards
Natural/human
sources of the
avg. annual dose
of ionizing
radiation received
by the U.S.
population
Most studies
indicate that there
is no safe dose of
ionizing radiation

NON-TRANSMISSABLE
DISEASES

TRANSMISSABLE DISEASES

Not contagious
Examples:

Cancer*
Cardiovascular disorders
Diabetes*

Emphysema
Malnutrition

Contagious
Pathogens: bacteria,
viruses, protozoa, fungi
Transmission: air,
water, food, body
fluids, insects, vectors
Affected by human
activity
Contact
Travel
Urbanization

Global Distribution of

Biologic
al
Plasmodium protozoan
Hazards
Causes malaria
Vector: Anopheles
mosquitoes

 Cause

harm by:

Being flammable or explosive

Irritating or damaging the skin or lungs

(strong acidic or alkaline substances, ex:

oven cleaner)
Interfering with or preventing oxygen
uptake and distribution (asphyxiants
CO, H2S)
Inducing allergic reactions of the
immune system

chemical that has a LD50 mg or

less per kg of body weight
LD50 is the median lethal dose: amt

of a chemical received in one dose that

kills exactly 50% of the animals in a test
population within a 14-day period

Hormones control
cellular processes
Attach to cell
receptors: lock-n-key
Hormone Blockers:
Prevents normal

attachment of
hormones
Prevents normal activity
Ex: androgens

Hormone Mimics:

Attach to receptors
Disrupt normal activity
Ex: estrogen mimics

51

chemicals
shown to disrupt
hormones of
wildlife, lab animals
& humans
1997

Study US &
European Men
50% decline in

sperm count
Examples:

PCBs,
dioxins, plastic
chemicals,
pesticides, lead,
mercury

 Toxicity:

measure of how harmful a

substance is
Harm affected by:
1. Dose
2. Solubility: water vs. lipid
3. Persistence

Bioaccumulation
Biomagnification

4. Chemical Interactions
Antagonistic
Synergistic

 Case

Studies: doctors evaluating

health effects after exposure
Epidemiology: studies of populations
exposed to chemicals/disease
Lab Investigations
Animal Research
Bacteria
Cell/Tissue Samples
Chicken Egg Membranes

Toxicity Rating
super toxic

LD50
< 0.01

extremely toxic

<5

less than 7 drops

very toxic

550

7 drop to 1 teaspoon

toxic

50500

moderately toxic

5005,000

1 ounce to 1 pint

methyl alcohol, ether, pehobarbital,

amphetamines, kerosine, aspirin

slightly toxic
essentially nontoxic

5,00015,000
> 15,000

1 pint to 1 quart
more than 1 quart

ethyl alcohol, lysol, soaps

water, glycerin, table sugar

Average Lethal Dose

Examples
less than 1 drop
nerve gases, botulism, mushroom
toxins, dioxin
potassium cyanide, heroin, atropine,
parathion, nicotine
mercury salts, morphine, codeine

1 teaspoon to 1 ounce lead salts, DDT, sodium hydroxide,

fluoride, sulfuric acid, caffeine,
carbon tetrachloride

 HAZMATS:

Hazardous Materials

focus on:
Ignitability
Corrosivity
Reactivity
Toxicity

Material

Safety Data Sheets

(MSDS): Educate about dangers,
ways to handle each substance

Banned/highly
restricted
chemicals

Pesticides
Insecticides
Industrial Waste

Stockholm
Convention on
Persistent Organic
Pollutants

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.

Aldrin
Chlordan
DDT
Dieldrin
Endrin
Heptachlor
Hexachlorobenzene
Mirex
Toxaphene
PCBs
Polychlorinated
Dioxins
Polychlorinated
Furans

 Dose:

amount of a potentially harmful

substance taken in
Threshold Levelsi.e. safe levels of exposure
Body detoxifies chemicalspreventing build-up
Cells can repair or reproduce

Response:

type & amount of health

damage resulting from chemical exposure
Acute: dizziness, rash, death
Chronic: asthma, kidney damage, heart

disease

Dose-Response Curves:

show the adverse

affects of various doses of a toxic agent on a test
population
plots harmful effects as a function of dose

Bioaccumulation:
chemical
molecules stored
in body tissues @
higher than
expected levels
Biomagnification
: levels of toxins
magnified up
trophic levels

 Synergistic

Interactions: 2+ factors
interact to increase response to
chemical(s)
Asbestos exposure alone = 20X increase risk of
lung cancer
Asbestos exposure + cigarette smoker = 400X risk
of lung cancer

Antagonistic

Interactions: can reduce

harmful responses to chemical(s)
Vitamin A and E interact to reduce the bodys
response to carcinogens

Poverty
Tobacco
Pneumonia/flu
Air pollution
AIDS
Diarrhea
TB
Malaria
Work related
injury &
disease
Hep B
Automobile
accidents
Measles
Airline crashes

Scientific Uncertainty + Reasonable

Suspicion of Harm
In U.S., chemicals are innocent until
proven guilty
1000 new synthetic chemicals
introduced yearlyno true knowledge
of harmful effects
99.5% of commercially used chemicals
in U.S. not regulated
Expensive
Too much to test for