TOXICOLOGY PART III Toxins

Toxin  a biologically produced poison  Although there are some man-made toxins  Made either for defense or for predation  Examples Hemotoxins – target and destroy red blood cells Necrotoxins – cause cell death (necrosis) Neurotoxins – affect nervous system of animals Cytotoxins – individual cell reactions

Toxicity  Determined by…  Dosage  The chemical or physical form of the substance  How it enters the body  The body weight and physiological conditions of the victim, including age and sex

Toxicity cont’d  The time period of exposure  Chronic exposure – larger amounts over time  Acute toxicity – dose large enough to cause immediate problems  Whether other chemicals are present in the body or in the dose  Synergism – combined effects of substances that exceeds the sum of their individual effects  Antagonism – combined effect of substances that decrease their individual effects

LD 50  Amount of a substance that kills half the test population  Allows for comparison of toxicity of substance

Regulatory Organizations  Food and Drug Administration (FDA)  Pharmaceuticals, food additives, medical devices  Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)  Agricultural and industrial chemicals released into the environment  Consumer Product Safety Commission  Toxins in consumer products  Department of Transportation (DOT)  Shipment of toxic chemicals  Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)  Exposure to chemicals in the workplace

Toxins – Venoms - Poisons  Hemlock  Arsenic  Lead  Anthrax  Cholera  Botulinum  Diphtheria  Ricin  VX Nerve Gas  Agent Orange  Strychnine  Sarin

Cases of Assassinations and Murder  Socrates  Napoleon  Viktor Yushchenko  Albert Magnus  Georgi Ivanov Markov  Alexander Litvinenko – Polonium-210

Biological Warfare

Historical Bioterrorism Events