14

Environmental Health and Toxicology

Part A

PowerPoint Slides prepared by Jay Withgott and Kristy Manning

Copyright 2006 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings Copyright 2006 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

This lecture will help you understand:

Environmental health hazards Environmental health goals Synthetic and natural toxicants Study of hazards and their effects Risk assessment and risk management

Policy and regulation

Copyright 2006 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Central Case: Alligators and Endocrine Disruptors at Lake Apopka, Florida

Biologist Louis Guillette found alligators with reproductive abnormalities in a Florida lake. The lake had been contaminated with pesticides.

Research revealed that chemicals in the lake were disrupting the animals reproductive hormones.
Copyright 2006 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Environmental health

Environmental health:
RISK ASSESSMENT: Assesses environmental factors that influence human health and quality of life. RISK MANANGEMENT: Seeks to prevent adverse effects on human health and ecological systems. Contains environmental toxicology within its scope.

Copyright 2006 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Environmental health hazards

Synthetic and natural toxicants are only one type of environmental health threat. Others are: Physical hazards (floods, blizzards, landslides, radon, UV exposure) Chemical hazards (disinfectants, pesticides) Biological hazards (viruses, bacterial infections) Cultural or lifestyle hazards (drinking, smoking, bad diet, crime in neighborhood)
Copyright 2006 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Environmental health hazards

Copyright 2006 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Infectious disease
In communicable or transmissable disease, a pathogen attacks a host,
either directly or through a vector (e.g., mosquito that transfers a malaria parasite to hosts) and the pathogen can be transmitted from one host to another. Infectious disease causes 25% of deaths in the world and nearly half of deaths in developing nations.
Copyright 2006 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Infectious disease

2nd-leading cause of death worldwide

Copyright 2006 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

6 diseases account for 80% of infectious disease deaths

West Nile Virus

West Nile Virus has spread rapidly since 1999.

Copyright 2006 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Many health hazards exist indoors

Substances in plastics and consumer products Lead in paint and pipes Radon Asbestos PBDE fire retardants

Copyright 2006 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Synthetic chemicals are everywhere in our environment

Many thousands have been produced and released.

Some persist for long time periods or travel great distances.

2002 USGS study: 80% of U.S. streams contain up to 82 wastewater contaminants, which include antibiotics, perfumes, detergents, drugs, steroids, disinfectants, etc.
Copyright 2006 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Synthetic chemicals

Of the 100,000 synthetic chemicals on the market today, very few have been thoroughly tested for harmful effects.

Copyright 2006 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Synthetic chemicals are numerous

Copyright 2006 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Rise of synthetic chemicals

Widespread synthetic chemical production after WWII

People are largely unaware of the health risks of many toxicants.

The potent insecticide DDT was sprayed widely in public areas, even on people.
Copyright 2006 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Silent Spring and Rachel Carson

Carsons 1962 book alerted the public that DDT and other pesticides could be toxic to animals and people. Further research led the EPA to ban DDT in 1973. These developments were central to the modern environmental movement.

Copyright 2006 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Types of toxicants: Teratogens

The drug thalidomide, used to relieve nausea during pregnancy, turned out to be a potent teratogen, and caused thousands of birth defects before being banned in the 1960s.
Thalidomide baby Butch Lumpkin learned to overcome his deformed arms and fingers to become a professional tennis instructor.
Copyright 2006 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

All toxicants are not synthetic

Although toxicology tends to focus on manmade chemicals, its important to keep in mind that there are plenty of natural toxicants.

Many are toxins produced by animals or plants for protection against predators and pathogens.

Copyright 2006 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Risk
Risk = the mathematical probability that some harmful outcome will result from a given action, event, or substance
Probability = a quantitative description of the likelihood of a certain outcome Harmful outcome could be defined as injury, death, environmental damage, economic loss, etc.

Copyright 2006 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Perception different from reality

Our perception of risks tends not to match statistical reality.
smoking

plane crash
Copyright 2006 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Perception different from reality

Scope Report 27 - Climate impact assessment, Chapter 16, Figure 16.5, ed. by RW Kates, JH Ausubel, and M Berberi J Wiley & Sons Ltd, UK (1985). Adapted from: Slovic et al. Rating the risks. Environment, 21(3) 14-39 (1979).

Copyright 2006 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Risk assessment
Analyzes risks quantitatively Measures and compares risks involved in different activities or substances Helps identify and prioritize serious risks Helps determine threats posed to humans, wildlife, ecosystems
Copyright 2006 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Risk assessment
Involves:

Dose-response analysis or other tests of toxicity

Assessing likely exposure to the hazard (concentration, time, frequency)
Copyright 2006 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Risk management
Consider risk assessments in light of social, economic, and political needs and values. Weigh costs and benefits, given both scientific and nonscientific concerns. Decide whether or not to reduce or eliminate risk.
Copyright 2006 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Risk assessment and risk management inform policy

Following risk management, policy decisions are made.

Copyright 2006 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Risk assessment and risk management inform policy

Copyright 2006 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Philosophical approaches

Innocent until proven guilty: Assume harmless until shown to be harmful

Precautionary principle: Assume harmful until shown to be harmless

Copyright 2006 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Implications for product testing

Innocent until proven guilty: Industry can introduce any products it wants. Government bears the burden of proof to show if products are dangerous. Precautionary principle: Industry cannot introduce a product until it is very thoroughly tested and shown convincingly to be harmless.
Copyright 2006 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Implications for product testing

Industry has pressured government to take an innocentuntil-provenguilty approach.
Environmental advocates have pressured government to follow the precautionary principle.
Copyright 2006 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Federal agencies and risk management

In the U.S., most risk management is conducted by federal and state agencies. Particularly: Environmental Protection Agency and Food and Drug Administration
Copyright 2006 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Policy on toxicants
Key agencies and products they regulate: Food and Drug Administration (FDA) - food, additives, cosmetics, drugs, medical devices Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) - FIFRA: Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act

- TSCA: Toxic Substances Control Act - pesticides, industrial chemicals, and any synthetic chemicals not covered by other agencies Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) - workplace hazards
Copyright 2006 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

EPA regulation: Pesticides (FIFRA)

Pesticides to be introduced to market in the U.S. need to be registered with the EPA.
Registration involves risk assessment and risk management. EPA assesses research from the manufacturer along with any outside research. EPA can set restrictions on use, or even ban a product.

Copyright 2006 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

EPA regulation: Industrial chemicals (TSCA)

EPA is charged with monitoring 75,000 industrial chemicals.

Too many chemicals, too little time, people, resources

Only 10% of chemicals on the market are thoroughly tested. Only 2% are screened for carcinogens, mutagens, teratogens. <1% are government regulated. ~0% are tested for endocrine, nervous, or immune effects.
Copyright 2006 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

The dirty dozen POPs

Aldrin DDT Dieldrin Dioxins Endrin Furans (insecticide) (insecticide) (insecticide) (industrial by-product) (insecticide) (industrial by-product) Chlordane (insecticide)

Heptachlor (insecticide) Hexachlorobenzene (fungicide, industrial by-product) Mirex PCBs (insecticide, fire retardant) (industrial chemical)

Toxaphene (insecticide)
Copyright 2006 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Viewpoints: Industry or government?

Warren Porter
Given the inherent inadequacies of the testing process and the uncertainty of the economic impacts, both government and industry should share the responsibility of testing to ensure public safety.
Copyright 2006 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Marian Stanley
Manufacturers often voluntarily conduct new studies to support the continued safe use of their chemicals. It is important that the EPA and manufacturers work together in evaluating chemicals.

Toxicology
The study of poisonous substances and their effects on humans and other organisms Toxicologists assess and compare toxic agents, or toxicants, for their toxicity, the degree of harm a substance can inflict. Analagous to a pathogenicity or virulence of the biological hazards that spread infectious disease. Environmental toxicology focuses on effects of chemical poisons released into the environment.
Copyright 2006 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Environmental toxicology
Studies toxicants that come from or are discharged into the environment, and:
Health effects on humans Effects on animals Effects on ecosystems Animals are studied: For their own welfare As canaries in a coal mine to warn of effects on humans
Copyright 2006 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Types of toxicants

Carcinogens: cause cancer

Mutagens: cause mutations in DNA

Teratogens: cause birth defects Allergens: cause unnecessary immune response Neurotoxins: damage nervous system Endocrine disruptors: interfere with hormones

Copyright 2006 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Toxicants take many routes through the environment

Copyright 2006 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Minimata Disease

Copyright 2006 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Toxicants concentrate in water

Surface water and groundwater can accumulate toxicants. Runoff from large areas of land drains into water bodies, becoming concentrated. Toxicants in groundwater or surface water reservoirs used for drinking water pose potential risks to human health.

Copyright 2006 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Airborne toxicants

Volatile chemicals can travel long distances on atmospheric currents.

PCBs are carried thousands of miles from developed nations of the temperate zone up to the Arctic, where they are found in tissues of polar bears and seals.

Copyright 2006 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Transport to the Arctic: Global distillation

Copyright 2006 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Persistence
Some chemicals are more stable than others, persisting for longer in the environment. DDT and PCBs are persistent. Bt toxin in GM crops is not persistent. Temperature, moisture, sun exposure, etc., affect rate of degradation. Most toxicants degrade into simpler breakdown products. Some of these are also toxic. (DDT breaks down to DDE, also toxic.)
Copyright 2006 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Poisons accumulate in tissues

The body may excrete, degrade, or store toxicants. Fat-soluble ones are stored. DDT is persistent and fat soluble,

so builds up in tissues: bioaccumulation.

Bioaccumulated chemicals may be passed on to animals that eat the organismup the food chain
Copyright 2006 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Poisons move up the food chain

At each trophic level, chemical concentration increases: biomagnification.

DDT concentrations increase from plankton to fish to fish-eating birds.

Copyright 2006 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Studying effects of hazards

Toxicologists study effects in several major ways:

Wildlife toxicology studies

Human epidemiological studies

Dose-response studies in the lab

Copyright 2006 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Wildlife toxicology
Determine causes of mortality in die-off events (e.g., toxoplasma)

or
Test animals in the lab for response to toxicants or Correlate chemical presence and animal presence in the field

Copyright 2006 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Human epidemiology

Human studies rely on: Case history = observation and analysis of individual patients Epidemiological studies = long-term, large-scale comparisons of different groups of people Animal testing

Copyright 2006 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Human epidemiology

Advantages:

Realistic
All real-life factors included

Disadvantages: Statistically correlational only; does not prove causation

Takes many years to get results

Copyright 2006 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Mixing toxicology with anthropology

Children were tested for pesticide effects.

Drawings by nonexposed children

Drawings by exposed children

Copyright 2006 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Dose-response analysis
Method of determining toxicity of a substance by measuring response to different doses Lab animals are used. Mice and rats breed quickly, and give data relevant to humans because they share mammal physiology with us. Responses to doses are plotted on a dose-response curve.

Copyright 2006 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Dose-response curve

Threshold = dose at which response begins

Copyright 2006 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

LD50 = dose lethal to 50% of test animals

Dose-response curve
Dose-response curves allow us to predict effects of higher doses. By extrapolating the curve out to higher values, we can predict how toxic a substance may be to humans at various concentrations. In most curves, response increases with dose. But this is not always the case; the increase may not be linear. With endocrine disruption, it may decrease.
Copyright 2006 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Factors affecting toxicity

Not all people are equal. Sensitivity to toxicant can vary with sex, age, weight, etc. Babies, older people, or those in poor health are more sensitive. Type of exposure:

acute = high exposure in short period of time

chronic = lower amounts over long period of time
Copyright 2006 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Mixtures of toxicants
Substances may interact when combined together. Mixes of toxicants may cause effects greater than the sum of their individual effects. These are called synergistic effects. A challenging problem for toxicology: There is no way to test all possible combinations! (And the environment contains complex mixtures of many toxicants.)
Copyright 2006 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Conclusion
International agreements are a hopeful sign that governments will prevent environmental hazards. But solutions can come more easily when they do not arise from government regulation alone. Consumer choice can influence industry if consumers have scientific information. But we will never attain complete knowledge of risks.

A safer future depends on knowing risks, phasing out harmful substances, and replacing them with safer ones.
Copyright 2006 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Endocrine disruption
Some chemicals, once inside the bloodstream, can mimic hormones.
If molecules of the chemical bind to the sites intended for hormone binding, they cause an inappropriate response. Thus these chemicals disrupt the endocrine (hormone) system.
Copyright 2006 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Endocrine disruption
The hormone system is geared to working with tiny concentrations of hormones

so, it can respond to tiny concentrations of environmental contaminants.

Have chemicals in the environment acted as endocrine disruptors in humans?

Copyright 2006 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Frogs, people, and atrazine

Frogs show reproductive abnormalities in response to small doses of the herbicide atrazine, researcher Tyrone Hayes has found.
Others suggest that atrazine may have effects on humans as well. The fierce criticism from atrazines manufacturer reflects the high stakes in environmental toxicology.
Copyright 2006 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Declining sperm counts?

A 1992 study summarized results of sperm count studies worldwide since 1938. Data showed a significant decrease in mens sperm counts over 50 years.

Copyright 2006 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Testicular cancer
Others hypothesize that endocrine disruptors are behind the rise in testicular cancer in many nations.

Copyright 2006 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings