Clinical Toxicology

Dr. Adeltrudes B. Caburian

 Itis any discharge of material or energy into
water, land, or air that causes or may cause
acute (short term) or chronic (long term)
detriment to the earth’s ecological balance
or that lowers the quality of life.
 Different kinds of pollution are found. In this
section we will discuss:
 Air Pollution.
 Water Pollution.
 Soil/Land Pollution.
 Air pollution is the accumulation in the
atmosphere of substances that, in sufficient
concentrations, endanger human health or
produce other measured effects on living
matter and other materials.
 Among the major sources of pollution are
power and heat generation, the burning of
solid wastes, industrial processes, and,
especially, transportation.
 The six major types of pollutants are carbon
monoxide, hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides,
particulates, sulfur dioxide, and photochemical
oxidants.
 EXAMPLES:

 Forest fire
 Volcanic eruptions
 Gases release from radioactive decay of
rocks
 Traffic
 Power plants
 Industrial plants and factories
 Burning wood fuel
 Garbage incineration
 Etc.
 Air pollution can harm the health of people and
animals, damage crops or stop them growing
properly, and make our world unpleasant and
unattractive in a variety of other ways.

1. Human Health
BREATHING PROBLEMS
- asthma and bronchitis
-Workers-dye from silicosis.
2. Agricultural effects
- seriously affect the growth of plants
-reducing crop yields in some places
 Noise Pollution
Noise pollution or unwanted sounds that are
carried by the air, have an irritating and detrimental
effect on humans and other animals. Careful planning
of streets and buildings in towns and better control
over noisy vehicles may add to the control of noise
pollution.
 Tobacco Smoke
Tobacco smoke is one of the major forms of
pollution in buildings. It is not only the smoker who is
infected, but everyone who inhales the polluted air.
There is a very strong connection between smoking
and lung cancer. Bronchitis is common among
smokers and unborn babies of mothers who smoke
also suffer from the harmful effects of smoking.
 Exhaust Gases of Vehicles
Pollution from exhaust gases of vehicles
is responsible for 60% of all air pollution and
in cities up to 80%. There is a large variety of
harmful chemicals present in these gases,
with lead being one of the most dangerous.
 Combustion of Coal
The combustion of coal without special
precautions can have serious consequences.
If winds do not blow away the poisonous
gases, they can have fatal effects and may
lead to death.
 Acid rain
Acid rain is the term for pollution caused
when sulfur and nitrogen dioxides combine
with atmospheric moisture to produce highly
acidic rain, snow, hail, or fog. The acid eats
into the stone, brick and metal articles and
pollutes water sources.

 Smog
(a combination of the words "smoke" and
"fog") forms when sunlight acts on a cocktail
of pollutant gases such as nitrogen and sulfur
oxides, unburned hydrocarbons, and carbon
monoxide; that's why it's sometimes called
photochemical smog. One of the most
harmful constituents of smog is a toxic form
of oxygen called ozone, which can cause
serious breathing difficulties and even,
sometimes, death.
 Technological solutions - Example, cars with
conventional gasoline engines are now
routinely fitted with catalytic converters
that remove some (though not all) of the
pollutants from the exhaust gases.
 Laws and regulations
 Rising awareness and changing behavior
 Save energy
 Save water when you can
 Cut the car
 Cut out garden bonfires
 Never burn household waste
 Garden organically
 Cut the chemicals
 Use water-based paints and glues
 Don't smoke
 Reduce, reuse, and recycle
 Water pollution is the introduction into fresh
or ocean waters of chemical, physical, or
biological material that degrades the quality
of the water and affects the organisms living
in it. This process ranges from simple
addition of dissolved or suspended solids to
discharge of the most insidious and
persistent toxic pollutants (such as
pesticides, heavy metals, and non-
biodegradable, bioaccumulative, chemical
compounds).
 Sewage - In theory, sewage is a completely
natural substance that should be broken down
harmlessly in the environment: 90 percent of
sewage is water. In practice, sewage contains all
kinds of other chemicals, from the pharmaceutical
drugs people take to the paper, plastic, and other
wastes they flush down their toilets.
 Pesticides - Chemical fertilizers used by farmers
also add nutrients to the soil, which drain into
rivers and seas and add to the fertilizing effect of
the sewage. Together, sewage and fertilizers can
cause a massive increase in the growth of algae or
plankton that overwhelms huge areas of oceans,
lakes, or rivers. This is known as a harmful algal
bloom (also known as an HAB or red tide, because
it can turn the water red).
 Waste water - Factories are point sources
of water pollution, but quite a lot of water is
polluted by ordinary people from nonpoint
sources; this is how ordinary water becomes
waste water in the first place.
 Chemical waste - The best known example
of heavy metal pollution in the oceans took
place in 1938 when a Japanese factory
discharged a significant amount of mercury
metal into Minamata Bay, contaminating the
fish stocks there. It took a decade for the
problem to come to light. By that time, many
local people had eaten the fish and around
2000 were poisoned. Hundreds of people
were left dead or disabled.
 Oil pollution - 12% of the oil that enters the
oceans comes from tanker accidents; over 70% of
oil pollution at sea comes from routine shipping
and from the oil people pour down drains on
land.
 Litter - When people drop litter such as plastic
and cans, food wrappers and cigarette butts,
they can be washed by the rain into rivers and
other waterways through storm water drains in
the streets. At the beach, it is important that
people take home their litter or put it into
garbage bins at the beach so that it doesn't get
into the sea.
 Heat - Heat is a water pollutant—increased
water temperatures result in the deaths of many
aquatic organisms. These increases in
temperature are most often caused by
discharges of cooling water by factories and
 Personal Care Products, Household Cleaning
Products, and Pharmaceuticals

- Whenever we use personal-care products and household

cleaning products—whether they be laundry detergent, bleach,
or fabric softener; window cleaner, dusting spray, or stain
remover; hair dye, shampoo, conditioner, or Rogaine; cologne
or perfume; toothpaste or mouthwash; antibacterial soap or
hand lotion—we should realize that almost all of it goes down
the drain when we do laundry, wash our hands, brush our
teeth, bathe, or do any of the other myriad things that
incidentally use household water.

Similarly, when we take medications, we eventually excrete

the drugs in altered or unaltered form, sending the compounds
into the waterways. Studies have shown that up to 90% of your
original prescription passes out of you unaltered. Animal
farming operations that use growth hormones and antibiotics
also send large quantities of these chemicals into our waters.

Unfortunately, most wastewater treatment facilities are not

equipped to filter out personal care products, household
products, and pharmaceuticals, and a large portion of the
chemicals passes right into the local waterway that accepts the
treatment plant's supposedly clean effluent.
 Human health
- People who bathe or surf in the water can
fall ill if they swallow polluted water—yet
sewage can have other harmful effects too:
it can poison shellfish (such as cockles and
mussels) that grow near the shore. People
who eat poisoned shellfish risk suffering from
an acute—and sometimes fatal—illness called
paralytic shellfish poisoning.
- It can cause other symptoms like
rashes/allergies, diarrhea, fever, bronchial
asthma, amoebiasis, leptospirosis, cholera,
 Industrial affluent
Water is discharged from after having been
used in production processes. This waste
water may contain acids, alkalis, salts,
poisons, oils and in some cases harmful
bacteria.
 Mining and Agricultural Wastes
Mines, especially gold and coal mines, are
responsible for large quantities of acid water.
Agricultural pesticides, fertilizers and
herbicides may wash into rivers and stagnant
water bodies.
 Sewage Disposal and Domestic Wastes
Sewage as well as domestic and farm wastes
were often allowed to pollute rivers and
dams.
 Begin at Home
 Enforce Laws
One of the most important points is to enforce the
existing water pollution laws and make them more
stringent. Immediately penalize anyone who tries
to break them. This is one of the best measures to
prevent water pollution.
 Education
 Economics – “polluter pays principle”. This means
that whoever causes pollution should have to pay to
clean it up, one way or another.
 Minimize Oil Spills
Oil spills have a negative impact on the
marine ecosystem. So, strict and stringent laws and
regulations should be implemented. This is again
one of the important solutions to water pollution.
 Land pollution - is the degradation of the
Earth's land surface through misuse of the
soil by poor agricultural practices, mineral
exploitation, industrial waste dumping, and
indiscriminate disposal of urban wastes
 A phenomenon of addition of various harmful
chemicals, salts, microorganisms and other toxic
substances into the top layer of the soil.
 Industrial wastes
 Unfavorable and harmful irrigation practices.
 Improper septic system and management
 Leakages from sanitary sewage.
 Fuel leakages from automobiles
 Unhealthy waste management techniques,
which are characterized by release of sewage
into the large dumping grounds and nearby
streams or rivers.
 Mining
 Human health effects
 People living near polluted land have higher
incidences of migraines, nausea, fatigue,
miscarriage and skin disorders.
 Long-term effects of pollution
 Children often suffer from developmental
problems and weakened immune systems.
 Itadversely affects the human respiratory
system and results in various skin problems if
the toxic materials of the soil come in
contact with the skin.
 The consumption of fruits and vegetables
that are grown in contaminated soil can lead
to several health hazards in human beings.
 Agricultural effects

 Decrease in soil fertility

 Loss of soil and natural nutrients present in
it. Plants also would not thrive in such a soil,
which would further result in soil erosion
 Increase in salinity of the soil, which
therefore makes it unfit for vegetation, thus
making it useless and unproductive.
 Soilpollutants would bring in alteration in
the soil structure, which would lead to death
of many essential organisms in it. This would
also affect the larger predators and compel
them to move to other places, once they lose
their food supply.
 Generally crops cannot grow and flourish in a
polluted soil. Yet if some crops manage to
grow, then those would be poisonous enough
to cause serious health problems in people
consuming them.
 Creation of toxic dust
 Soil Pollution
Soil pollution is mainly due to chemicals in
herbicides (weed killers) and pesticides
(poisons which kill insects and other
invertebrate pests). Litter is waste material
dumped in public places such as streets, parks,
picnic areas, at bus stops and near shops.
 Waste Disposal
The accumulation of waste threatens the
health of people in residential areas. Waste
decays, encourages household pests and turns
urban areas into unsightly, dirty and unhealthy
places to live in.
 Excavate soil and take it to a disposal site
away from ready pathways for human or
sensitive ecosystem contact.
 Thermal remediation
 Bioremediation
 Extraction of groundwater or soil vapor with
an active electromechanical system, with
subsequent stripping of the contaminants
from the extract.
 Containment of the soil contaminants (such
as by capping or paving over in place).
 Phytoremediation, or using plants (such as
willow) to extract heavy metals
By studying plants that grew naturally in
toxic mines, scientist Chen Tongbin
discovered that certain plants loved to eat
heavy metals like arsenic, bronze, lead, zinc,
cobalt and cadmium. The contaminants can
then be retrieved from the plant's leaves and
used in industrial materials.