ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses toxicological and biological hazards. It begins with a brief introduction to the science of toxicology, and also addresses toxicological chemistry, the toxicological chemistry of various classes of substances, toxic aspects of toxins and other materials produced by biological processes and in biomedical facilities. The chapter shows a generalized dose-response curve in which death is the response of the test organisms. Toxicological chemistry addresses the relationships between the chemical properties and molecular structures of molecules and their toxicological effects. The chapter discusses the processes by which organisms metabolize xenobiotic species are enzyme-catalyzed Phase I and Phase II reactions. Toxicants in the body are metabolized, transported, and excreted; they have adverse biochemical effects; and they cause manifestations of poisoning. It is convenient to divide these processes into a kinetic phase and a dynamic phase. Hypersensitivity can be induced, and one of the greater problems with industrial exposure to chemicals is the development of hypersensitivity as manifested by allergic responses.
