Environmental toxicology
Environmental toxicology (pronounced: en-vi-ron-men-tal tox-i-col-o-gy) is a multidisciplinary field of science concerned with the study of the harmful effects of various chemical, biological and physical agents on living organisms.
Etymology
The term "Environmental toxicology" is derived from three words: "environment", which comes from the French environ meaning "around"; "toxic", which comes from the Greek toxikon meaning "poison"; and "ology", which is a suffix of Greek origin meaning "study of".
Definition
Environmental toxicology is the study of the effects of chemicals on human health and the environment. It involves the study of harmful effects of chemical, biological and physical agents in biological systems that establishes the extent of damage in living organisms.
Related Terms
- Ecotoxicology: A sub-discipline of environmental toxicology concerned with studying the harmful effects of toxicants at the population and ecosystem levels.
- Toxicity: The degree to which a substance can damage an organism.
- Toxicant: Any toxic substance.
- Toxicology: The study of the nature, effects, and detection of poisons and the treatment of poisoning.
- Pollutant: A substance or energy introduced into the environment that has undesired effects, or adversely affects the usefulness of a resource.
See Also
References
- Environmental Toxicology: Biological and Health Effects of Pollutants, Third Edition. Ming-Ho Yu, Humana Press, 2011.
- Introduction to Environmental Toxicology: Molecular Substructures to Ecological Landscapes, Fourth Edition. Wayne G. Landis, Ruth M. Sofield, Ming-Ho Yu, CRC Press, 2010.
External links
- Medical encyclopedia article on Environmental toxicology
- Wikipedia's article - Environmental toxicology
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