NURS 735 - APPLIED TOXICOLOGY
| Video/Audio Introduction. Listen to your instructor discuss key concepts that will guide your learning during this module. |
introduction by Dr. Squibb |
This module (metals) and subsequent modules will present information on the specific toxicity of four different classes of chemicals: metals, pesticides, solvents and natural food toxins. You have already learned the basic framework of toxicology. We will now apply that framework to understanding why exposure to specific chemicals can cause diseases if the exposure dose is high enough and/or it occurs over a long enough period of time. A lot of our knowledge of the health effects of chemicals comes from occupational exposures and from both acute and chronic exposure studies in animals that examine the mechanisms by which chemicals interact with biological systems. This information will be reviewed by covering the following areas for each class of chemicals:
Important pathways of exposure (occupational
and environmental)
Absorption, tissue distribution, metabolism and elimination
Adverse effects following acute exposures
Adverse effects following chronic exposures
Human diseases linked to chronic exposures
Module 4 on Metals was developed and contributed by Dr. Katherine Squibb, Acting Director for the Systemwide Program in Toxicology, University of Maryland.
As a result of completing this module on metals, your learning objectives will be to cover the toxicology of four of the major metals known to cause health problems in humans: cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), arsenic (As) and mercury (Hg).
By completing this module, you should understand:
To guide your understanding of key concepts throughout this module, the following assigned resources are available:
Read Chowdhury et al. EHP journal article on arsenic (html link). Based on your reading of this paper and research on the internet regarding As concentrations in drinking water supplies in the United States, answer the following questions in the Discussion Board:
1. How do the arsenic concentrations in the drinking water wells studied in this paper compare with arsenic concentrations found in public drinking water in the U.S.?
2. If someone was concerned about their level
of arsenic exposure, what measurements could you do to determine
whether they should be concerned?
Each registered student should have at least one primary Discussion Board entry that addresses both of these questions (please number them 1 and 2, respectively, in a single Discussion Board response. Please use your first name as the "subject" for the Discussion Board posting to these questions. Although there will be repetition in parts of each of your answers, each of you will have an opportunity post your individual answers. We can then respond as a class to any discussion thread that was started by each student. When responding to issues such as US groundwater arsenic concentrations, please site the source(s) you used to make the comparison between US concentraitons and Bangladesh and West Bengal.
Postscript: For the sake of clarity, part of this assignment requires internet research!