TOXICOLOGY ISSUE

Toxicology Issue

Toxicology Issue

Purpose for the Report

Living creatures face risk of death and damage from toxic waste material. Toxic waste can be described as being poisonous, unstable, radioactive, waste that can cause cancer, harm or damage chromosomes and abnormalities in new born children to name a few. High economic expenditures are incurred due to toxic wastes like economic, health issues, and the ecosystem. According to estimations, industrialized nations incur up to $300 billion per year due to toxic material exposure. The cleaning of contamination in the U.S costs $1 trillion approximately.

The number of Americans who die each year due to exposure to toxic substances is between 50,000 to 100,000. Since 1970, the percentage of cancer patients has been increasing each year due to the major reason of escalating levels of ecological toxins. Children, who are aged 5 years and below, comprising of 10% of the world's population, suffer from 40% of the disease related to the environment. Furthermore, childhood cancers have risen significantly. (Sexton, 2002)

Huge dent is also caused due to toxic wastes on the ecosystem, putting in danger animals and plants. The restorative system is crushed; habitats get destroyed, unique and susceptible species get killed, and diversity of life forms gets reduced. The reduction of the bald eagle species due to DDT consumption is a prime example. Other toxins like PCBs are responsible for killing a number of whales.

Many organizations are also involved in damaging the environment with toxic waste like, Westinghouse, General Electric (GE) and the U.S. government. Such corporations unload up to 8 million tons of toxic wastes into water supplies like rivers and the coastal area each year.

Routes of Exposure

An estimated number of 70,000 chemicals are utilized around the world. Approximately 200 to 1,000 fresh chemicals are launched each year by the chemical industry. As a result of which, the environment gets exposed to several chemicals from our home to general environment. Toxic substance can be traced in food, air, and water that we drink. There are three common routes through which exposure to toxic substances happen, which are: the skin (dermal absorption), the respiratory tract (inhalation) and the digestive tract (ingestion).

Dermal Absorption

Skin is the most common route through which we get exposed to toxic substance. The composition of skin has three layers, epidermis (outer layer), dermis (inner layer) and the subcutaneous fatty tissue layer. The carnified layer is the outmost layer which establishes how quickly the epidermis absorbs substances. The true skin is the interior layer of the skin which is not much responsible to absorb substance through the skin. The subcutaneous fatty tissue layer facilitates a support function for the important structures and gives the skin mobility to a certain point. Dermal absorption of toxic substance depends on the state of the skin (condition of the protective barrier), damage to which can allow substances to penetrate into the blood leading to other parts of the body, structure of the chemical substance like thinner and gasoline can be absorbed easily, and the duration of ...