ZGE 4302 - GROUP 6

Members:

Abuhassira, Mohammed
Alfaro, Paolo
Cembrano, Vanessa
Delapena,Patricia Anne M.
Divinagracia, Adrienne Nicole
Gillego, Julia Marie B.
Mallada, Khiara
Mathay, Enrique

Topic: ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH AND TOXICOLOGY

A. Global Health Challenges

What is the global health challenge definition?

● Global health emphasizes transnational health issues, determinants, and

solutions; involves many disciplines within and beyond the health sciences and
promotes interdisciplinary collaboration; and is a synthesis of population-based
prevention with individual-level clinical care.
● These are the list of Global Health Challenges

1. Long covid
2. Mental health

3. Impact of climate change

4. Cardiovascular disease
5. Poverty’s Role in health

6. Dementia

7. Population aging
B. Definition of Toxicology (Delapena, Mallada)
● Toxicology
- is the study of the effects of chemical, biological, and physical agents on
living organisms, particularly humans.
- Is critical in determining the materials, substances, and ingredients that
can and cannot be used across a variety of sectors, including medicine,
construction, and air and water quality control.
- Toxicologists can determine the proper dosage and safe exposure limits of
any questionable substance exposed to the living world.

Types of Toxicology Sciences

● Forensic Toxicology
- Forensic toxicologists play an integral role in criminal cases and are
often used to help determine a cause of death or more generally to
examine the role that substances played in a crime or death.
- forensic toxicology is also used to drug-test individuals, whether it's
in office settings, legal cases, or sports leagues.
- Forensic toxicologists not only conduct research and take tests, but
they also use their findings to interpret results and collaborate with
larger forensic teams and law enforcement agencies.
● Environmental Toxicology
- Environmental toxicology relates to how substances—man-made
and/or natural—interact with the world and our surrounding
environment, which includes interpreting possible adverse human
health effects due to exposure to environmental toxicants.
- Those who specialize in this area can be found working in
environmental regulation, management, and hazardous waste.
 -They also cover emerging trends in environmental hazards, such
as microplastics or increased mercury levels in fish.
● Medical Toxicology
- Through exploring the effects that drugs and medical procedures
have on humans, medical toxicologists uncover the adverse effects
of medical treatments and establish proper dosage and exposure
guidelines for substances.
- They typically work in areas such as drug abuse, chemical
exposures, poison or envenomations (venom from an animal bite or
sting), and more.

● Regulatory Toxicology
- Involves developing and implementing regulations and guidelines
for the safe use of chemicals and substances in various industries.
Regulatory toxicologists work with government agencies to ensure
public safety.

C. Distribution and Dynamics of Toxins (Alfaro, Mathay)

● The distribution and dynamics of toxins refer to the processes in which

environmental toxins enter and move through ecosystems. Also how they affect
the health of organisms within these ecosystems. This is essential in assessing
and managing the impact of environmental contaminants.

Distribution:
1. Environmental Fate
● Toxins released into the environment undergo different transformations
● Toxins can persist, degrade, or transform into different chemical forms
● Factors that influence these processes include temperature, pH, and
microbial activity
● In other words, this is what happens to contaminants when released to the
environment
2. Bioaccumulation
● Toxins may accumulate in living organisms, this process is known as
bioaccumulation
● These toxins can move up the food chain, creating risks to predators and
consumers at the top of the food chain
 ● For example mercury contamination
○ mercury is absorbed by bacteria or phytoplankton
○ then small fish eat the bacteria and phytoplankton and in turn
accumulate the mercury
○ then the small fish are eaten by bigger fish, which then can be
eaten by humans or different animals
● This can result to biomagnification
3. Biomagnification
● This occurs when toxins become more concentrated at higher trophic
levels in a food chain
● This process is most evident with persistent organic pollutants or POPs,
examples include DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane) and PCBs
(polychlorinated biphenyl)
○ DDT: is man made and was used as an insecticide to prevent the
spread of disease and to protect crops
○ PCB: formerly used in industrial and consumer products, but turned
out to be highly carcinogenic and was banned in the United States
in 1976
● DDT
○ An example of bioaccumulation into biomagnification
○ DDT was used as a spray in the United States, rain then washed
DDT into creeks, which eventually got into lakes and the ocean
○ DDT was then bioaccumulated within organisms in that ecosystem
○ In turn, it then biomagnified through the food web to very high
levels in predatory birds that ate the fish (bald eagles, osprey, etc.)
○ This then affected the birds eggshells, causing them to become
abnormally thin
○ As a result, the adult birds broke the shells of their unhatched
babies and these baby birds died causing the population of these
predatory birds to decrease significantly
4. Environmental compartments
● Environmental compartments serve as a source or pool of contaminants
● Toxins can be distributed through different environmental compartments,
these include
○ air
○ water
○ soil
○ sediments
○ biota
 ● These environmental compartments help understand and predict behavior
of chemicals in specific environments and in the environment as a whole

Dynamics of Toxins
1. Community and Ecosystem Effects
● Toxins can disrupt ecosystem dynamics by affecting the abundance and
distribution of species.
● They can also influence ecological interactions, such as predation and
competition.

2. Toxicokinetics and its Human Health Implications

● Describes the rate of a chemical that enters the body and how the
compound metabolizes and excrete once it is in the body.
● It deals with what the body does with a drug when given a relatively high
dose relative to the therapeutic dose.
● The science of toxicology has evolved to include environmental and
occupational chemicals as well as drugs.
● Environmental toxins can have direct or indirect effects on human health
through exposure via air, water, food, or contact with contaminated
environments.
● The dynamics of toxins in the environment are crucial for assessing and
mitigating these risks.

Four processes are involved in Toxicokinetics

a. Absorption - the substance enters the body (Inhalation, Ingestion, Skin Contact)
b. Distribution - the substance moves from the site of entry to other areas of the
body (Distributed by blood flow)
c. Metabolism/Biotransformation - the body changes (transforms) the substance
into new chemicals (metabolites)
d. Excretion - the substance or its metabolites leave the body.
Multiple choice quiz:
1. What type of toxicology that relates to how substances interact with the world
and our surrounding environment?
a. Medical toxicology
b. Environmental toxicology
c. Regulatory toxicology
d. Forensic toxicology
2. What type of toxicology involves developing and implementing regulations and
guidelines for the safe use of chemicals and substances in various industries?
a. Forensic toxicology
b. Medical toxicology
c. Regulatory toxicology
d. Environmental toxicology
3. Who is responsible for determining the proper dosage and safe exposure limits of
any questionable substance exposed to the living world?
a. Toxicologist
b. Medical doctor
c. Pharmacist
d. Dentist
4. What do you call the process of when toxins accumulate in living organisms?
a. Environmental fate
b. Bioaccumulation
c. Biomagnification
d. Environmental compartments
5. Which of the following is not considered as an environmental compartment?
 a. Soil
b. Water
c. Biota
d. None of the above
6. Which of the following serves as a source or pool of contaminants?
a. Environmental compartments
b. Environmental storage
c. Environmental repository
d. Environmental chamber
7. Which of the following refers to the study of the effects of chemical, biological,
and physical agents on living organisms?
a. Biology
b. Chemistry
c. Physical science
d. Toxicology
8. Who plays an integral role in criminal cases and are often used to help determine
a cause of death?
a. Forensic researchers
b. Forensic toxicologists
c. Forensic doctors
d. Forensic agent
9. Who uncover the adverse effects of medical treatments and establish proper
dosage and exposure guidelines for substances?
a. Medical technologists
b. Medical researchers
c. Medical toxicologists
d. Medical doctors
10. Which of the following is an example of bioaccumulation?
a. Mercury contamination
b. Water contamination
c. Air pollution
d. Deforestation
11. It is a transfer of a chemical across biological membranes from the site of
exposure, usually an external or internal body surface into the systemic
circulation.
a. Absorption
b. Distribution
c. Metabolism
d. Excretion
12. Which is not part of the four processes in Toxicokinetics?
 a. Absorption
b. Disposition
c. Biotransformation
d. Excretion
13. It is defined as the removal of the chemical from the body and their return to the
external environment.
a. Biotransformation
b. Metabolism
c. Elimination
d. Excretion
14. This process can involve enzymes that convert the chemical into a form called
metabolite which is more readily excreted.
a. Elimination
b. Absorption
c. Biotransformation
d. Excretion
15. It focuses on issues that directly or indirectly impact health and can transcend
national boundaries.
a. Public health
b. Global health
c. Local health
d. National health
16. Which is an example of a Global Health Challenge that is already affecting the
health of millions people all over the world and will worsen throughout this
century?
a. Impact of Climate Change
b. Mental health
c. Poverty’s role in health
d. Dementia
17. It is a field of study, research and practice that places a priority on achieving
equity in health for all people.
a. National health
b. Medical Toxicology
c. Global health
d. Environmental toxicology
18. Which is in the correct order?
a. Absorption, Distribution, BIotransformation, Excretion
b. Metabolism, Excretion, Absorption, Distribution
c. Absorption, Disposition, Biotransformation, Excretion
d. Absorption, Disposition, Metabolism, Elimination,
 19. This example of a Global Health Challenge is the leading cause of disability
worldwide.
a. Diabetes
b. Mental Disorders
c. Dementia
d. Cardiovascular disease
20. How many processes are there in toxicokinetics?
a. 3
b. 6
c. 5
d. 4

References:

● What is toxicology?. Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.

(2023, March 14). https://www.publichealth.columbia.edu/news/what-toxicology
● Newman, M. (2019). Fundamentals of Ecotoxicology
● Guidotti, T. (2019). Ecotoxicology & Environmental Toxicology. Retrieved from
https://www.slideserve.com/sherlock_clovis/ecotoxicology-powerpoint-ppt-presen
tation
● Holivera, M. (n.d.). Principles of Environmental Toxicology and contamination
(part II). Toxicokinetics. https://www.ciimar.up.pt/Arcopol2_2016/page_11.htm
● Writer, A. C. (n.d.). 11 global health issues to watch in 2023, according to IHME
experts. The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation.
https://www.healthdata.org/news-events/insights-blog/acting-data/11-global-healt
h-issues-watch-2023-according-ihme-experts
● What is Global Health?. Duke Global Health Institute. (2022, October 14).
https://globalhealth.duke.edu/what-global-health