Environmental Hazards and Human Health

Abstract

The need for government regulation of the use and disposal of toxic chemicals, and the nature of the risk associated with them, is certain to increase over the next few years. Information concerning the hazards of new chemicals will also emerge. The high cost of completely eliminating some synthetic chemicals from the environment makes it essential to have an appreciation of their real, relative risks against the background of natural hazards encountered daily.This text is the only one currently available that addresses these questions and provides a knowledge base of the principles of toxicology (pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, toxicity testing, and so on), describes mechanistically the major natural and anthropogenic toxicants in the environment, and applies this knowledge to an understanding of the nature and extent of risks that are posed to society at large as well as to the work force. This text differs from similar ones by placing xenobiotics of human origin in perspective to naturally occurring ones. Examples of industrial accidents are used liberally, and 24 case studies of toxic reactions, taken from real occurrences, are included. Review questions provide an opportunity for self-evaluation.