Week 9 - Toxicology Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards for toxicology review.

Toxicon

Poisonous substance

Logos

Study

Toxicology

The qualitative and quantitative study of adverse reaction of toxins and Toxicants on living organisms and the environment.

Toxin

A poison of natural origin.

Toxicant

Hazardous substance of chemical origin.

Occupational Toxicology

Deals with chemical used at workplace.

Environmental Toxicology

Deals with the effect of chemicals that present as pollutants /contaminants of the environment

Forensic Toxicology

Study of the medical and legal aspects of toxins and poisons.

Clinical Toxicology

Study of the pathophysiological aspects and clinical presentation of intoxication.

Pharmacokinetics

Refers to absorption, distribution, biotransformation and excretion of drugs and chemicals.

Pharmacodynamics

Deals with the biochemical and physiological effects of chemicals to the body and mechanisms of their actions.

Sample integrity checks

Measure urine creatinine/electrolytes, pH, Specific gravity, Appearance, Temperature on collection, Odour, Measure metabolites

Thin Layer Chromatography

Used to be used as initial screening test prior to confirmatory technique. Can detect parent drugs and their metabolites in most cases

Immunoassay Methods

Usually used as initial screening test prior to confirmatory method. Samples including low levels of the target protein

Gas Chromatography

Detectors used in GC very high specificity

Liquid Chromatography (Tandem) Mass Spectrometry

The standard clinical laboratory tool for confirmatory drugs of abuse screening. Allows simultaneous detection of multiple compounds

Inductively Coupled Plasma

Trace elements measurement, high sensitivity and lower detection limits

Point of Care Testing (POCT)

Majority based on immunochemical ‘lateral flow device’ technology

Toxbase

A national database and learning tool for all toxins/toxicants

National Poisons Information Service (NPIS)

As well as all the above, also collates reports and issues national statistics