What do you understand by the terms: Toxicity, Preservatives, Carcinogens, Mortality, Morbidity
Toxicity-this is the extent to which a toxic substance is capable of causing injury to a vulnerable organism.
Preservatives-these are natural or artificial chemicals added to substances like medicines, paints, and foods to avoid decomposition caused by the growth of microorganisms or unwanted chemical changes.
Carcinogens-this is described as any material, radionuclide, or radioactivity that can result in cancerous infection.
Mortality- this is the word used in describing the number of persons who have died within a given population
Morbidity-this is the proportion of individuals in a population getting sick from a certain disease.
Name a few toxic chemicals
There several chemicals that can be toxic to both humans and other animals. Some of these chemicals are listed below
- Trichloroethylene
- Toluene
- Mercury
- Methyl ethyl ketone
- Naphtha
- Carbon disulfide
- Formaldehyde
- Methyl alcohol
- Carbon tetrachloride
- Benzene
- lead
How can toxic chemicals enter your body
There are four main routes through which chemicals can get into a person’s body. These include breathing in, getting into contact with the skin, ingesting, and injection by a sharp object. Breathing in polluted air is the most prevalent method through which workstation chemicals get into the body. There are certain chemicals that are capable of penetrating through the skin into the blood system when contacted. Occasionally, workshop chemicals can be absorbed unintentionally if foodstuff or cigarettes are polluted. The injection is prevalent in workstations and can take place whenever a sharp material cuts the skin and introduces a chemical right into the blood system. Possibly, the eyes can as well be an entry path for chemicals, though just trivial amounts of chemicals are able to enter the body thru the eyes or mouth. Chemicals may get into the stomach by swallowing polluted secretion that has been ejected from the lungs, or intake of polluted food. Foodstuff and drinks are most regularly polluted by dirty hands, gloves, or outfit, or by leaving it unprotected in the workplace. Biting of nails and smoking can also lead to chemicals getting into the body.
Explain with an example of how toxic chemicals can be harmful to the human
Toxic chemicals can cause several effects whenever they get into contact with the body. Being exposed to a toxic substance like gasoline may affect human health. When an individual ingests gasoline, he or she can get diarrhea, vomit, or burns. Nevertheless, the absorption of too much gasoline may lead to drowsiness or even death since it is toxic. Certain chemicals are dangerous owing to their physical features: they may blast, scorch, or react effortlessly with other chemicals. The toxic properties of chemicals may range from slight and revocable to severe and irrevocable. For instance, a headache can result from a single incident of breathing in petroleum naphtha vapor which vanishes when the person gets to fresh air, and impairment of the liver and kidney can occur after extended exposure to chlorinated solvents. The toxic outcomes resulting from exposure to chemicals are based on the severity of the contacts.
What preventive measures can we take to stop such contamination to our health and environment?
Human health and environmental contamination can be prevented in several ways. At a personal level, proper hygiene is very significant in preventing contamination. This entails proper hand washing before eating. Proper handling of chemicals is also necessary to avoid getting into contact with them. To prevent chemicals from polluting the environment, proper disposal of chemical containers is necessary. This takes in recommended measures for disposal. Another important measure involves the proper labeling of containers that have chemicals.
Recently the British Petroleum has been blamed for spilling tones of crude oil into the Gulf Coast of the USA. Explain how it is damaging the natural habitat of birds and fishes
Oil spillage is one of the great disasters and a source of environmental pollution. It poses a serious danger to the life of sea animals such as fish and birds that depend on water for their life. Oil spills form a layer on top of water preventing fish from getting fresh oxygenated air, which is crucial for their survival. This could result in the death of fish and other sea animals. Birds can as well be affected by eating contaminated fish or drinking from polluted ocean waters.
There are several measures that can be taken by both the government and persons to prevent oil spills. The main preventive measure involves the proper handling of oil and its related products. Equipment that contains oil in water should be inspected for leaks from time to time and replaced whenever necessary.
The Polyethylene products such as poly bags, garbage bins, polythene sheaths are widely used for all house purposes which are not easily degraded. The Municipal Department of city Khornx of Middle East is not working to prevent environmental pollution due to poly bags. How poly bags cause an environmental hazard and suggest means to the use of poly bags.
Polybags are made using non-biodegradable materials. They are long-lasting and do not decompose easily. According to research conducted by scientists, it can take up to a thousand years to decompose. During that time, they disintegrate into more petite toxic particles that pollute the environment and even watercourses. Burning them also pollutes the atmosphere. Polybags results in the death of marine animals. They get blustered into the ocean water and float everywhere resembling a jellyfish. Most of the sea animals get obstructed and die for confounding them as food. Each year, millions of sea turtles obstruct on poly bags after confounding them for jellyfish, which is their preferred food. Even the stomachs of other larger sea animals such as sea lions and dolphins contain plastic bags. Bio-degradable poly bags should be used in wrapping items since they can decompose and result in less environmental pollution.