Potential for Chemical Injury and Toxicity

Potential for Chemical Injury and Toxicity

Overview

  • Virtually every known chemical can produce injury or death in sufficient quantities.

Lethal Dose (LD50)

  • Definition: The dose of chemicals needed to produce death in 50% of treated animals.

  • Table of LD50 values:

    • Ethyl alcohol: 10,000 mg/kg

    • Glyphosate: 5,600 mg/kg

    • Sodium chloride: 4,000 mg/kg

    • Ferrous sulfate: 1,500 mg/kg

    • Morphine sulfate: 900 mg/kg

    • Phenobarbital sodium: 150 mg/kg

    • Chlorpyrifos: 18 mg/kg

    • Picrotoxin: 5 mg/kg

    • Strychnine sulfate: 2 mg/kg

    • Nicotine: 1 mg/kg

    • VX nerve gas: 1 mg/kg

    • D-Tubocurarine: 0.5 mg/kg

    • Hemicholinium-3: 0.2 mg/kg

    • Tetrodotoxin: 0.10 mg/kg

    • Dioxin (TCDD): 0.001 mg/kg

    • Botulinum toxin: 0.00001 mg/kg

Limitations of Acute Lethality Measures

  • LD50 does not capture the full range of toxic responses or hazards to chemicals.

  • Some chemicals may have (CTN):

    • Carcinogenic effects

    • Teratogenic effects

    • Neurobehavioral effects even at non-lethal doses.

Factors Influencing Susceptibility

  • Individual responses to chemicals can vary due to (AGDUC):

    • Age

    • Genetics

    • Diet

    • Underlying diseases

    • Other concomitant exposures.

Conclusion

  • Multiple effects may occur in an organism for a particular chemical, each with a distinct dose-response relationship.