Environmental Toxicology Introduction and History Course Objectives • Elucidate basic principles of toxicology as they apply to both ecological and physiological systems • Evaluate sources, effects, and fates of toxins in individual components of ecosystems • Promote understanding of how toxic effects are integrated within ecosystems and on a global scale • Increase knowledge of current issues in environmental toxicology Why teach Environmental Toxicology? • A relatively new science that grew out of two phenomena 1. Dramatic presence of human species on the landscape 2. Awareness of environmental degradation...
Introduction to Toxicology Toxicology The study of the adverse effects of chemicals on living organisms and the underlying mechanisms Like medicine, toxicology is both a science and an art. The science of toxicology is defined as the observational and data-gathering phase, whereas the art of toxicology consists of the utilization of the data to predict outcomes of exposure in human and animal population. History of Toxicology • Antiquity: Ebers papyrus (1500 B.C.), Ben Chao Gong Mu (Ming dynasty) • Middle ages: Renaissance - Poisons and Their Antidotes (1198), arsenic-containing products • Age of enlightenment: Parcelsus (1493-1548) “All substances are poisons; there is none which is not a poison. The right dose differentiates a poison from a remedy.” • ...