What are the branches of toxicology?

Toxicology is a field of science that helps us understand the harmful effects that chemicals, substances, or situations, can have on people, animals, and the environment. … Toxicology uses the power of science to predict what, and how chemicals may cause harm and then shares that information to protect public health.

Industrial hygiene and toxicology are specialist fields Toxicology, industrial hygiene and related disciplines comprise many forms of human contact with potentially harmful external factors: chemical or microbiological agents, asbestos, climatological conditions, noise, vibration, lighting, electromagnetic fields, etc.

Mechanism of toxicity is the study of how chemical or physical agents interact with living organisms that may trigger perturbations in cell function and/or structure or that may initiate repair mechanisms at the molecular, cellular, and/or tissue levels.

The principal divisions and branches of toxicology are:

• Environmental Toxicology: …
• Forensic Toxicology: …
• Economic Toxicology: …
• Clinical Toxicology: …
• Mechanistic Toxicology: …
• Biochemical Toxicology: …
• Regulatory Toxicology: …
• Industrial Toxicology:

Toxicology can be divided into standard disciplines, such as clinical, forensic, investigative and regulatory toxicology; toxicology can be considered by target organ system or process, such as immunotoxicology or genetic toxicology; toxicology can be presented in functional terms, such as research, testing and risk …

Natural Toxic Chemicals

• Mercury.
• Snake venom.
• Caffeine in coffee, tea, kola and cocoa.
• Arsenic.
• Ricin from castor beans.
• Petroleum.
• Hydrogen sulfide.
• Chlorine gas.

Studies revealed that small doses of a substance might be harmless or beneficial, whereas larger doses could be toxic. This is now known as the dose-response relationship, a major concept in toxicology . “All substances are poisons; there is none which is not a poison .

Watch Out! Here Are the Five Most Dangerous Chemical Weapons

• Most toxic: VX.
• Most recently used: Sarin.
• Most popular: Mustard Gas.
• Most dangerous: Phosgene.
• Most attainable: Chlorine.

The median lethal dose for inhaled A-230, likely the most toxic liquid Novichok, has been estimated as between 1.

Death by asphyxiation or cardiac arrest may follow in minutes due to the loss of the body’s control over respiratory and other muscles. Some nerve agents are readily vaporized or aerosolized, and the primary portal of entry into the body is the respiratory system.

Novichok agents have similar effects to other nerve agents – they act by blocking messages from the nerves to the muscles, causing a collapse of many bodily functions. Dr Mirzayanov said the first sign to look out for was miosis, the excessive constriction of the pupils./span>

Novichok is a highly toxic nerve agent that slows the heart, paralyses the muscles used for breathing and — if the dose is big enough — can lead to death by asphyxiation. A smaller dose may result in seizures, neuromuscular weakness, liver failure and other damage./span>

Nerve agents were discovered through pesticide research. They belong to a group of substances known as organophosphorus chemicals, or “OPs” for short. … By disrupting the nervous system, Novichok and other nerve agents can kill people through asphyxiation or cardiac arrest. We know they are deadly./span>

To treat exposure to Novichok agents, doctors should immediately start IV atropine, as they would with other organophosphate exposure, administering 2 to 6 mg every 5 to 10 minutes, according to Dr. Chai’s article.

One of these is novichok-5, derived from the highly potent A-230 chemical. Its precursor chemicals are ordinary organophosphate pesticides and can be legally made at agricultural chemical manufacturers./span>

On 20 August 2020, Russian opposition figure and anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny was poisoned with a Novichok nerve agent and was hospitalized in a serious condition.

Is it contagious? Nerve agents that contaminate a person’s skin or clothes can affect others who touch it. Dosing is important, but as Brown explained: “These agents are really effective in tiny amounts, and unfortunately, they will kill most people.” Clothing can trap vapors and pass a nerve agent on to others./span>

Nerve agents enter the body primarily through the respiratory tract, although they may be absorbed through the eyes or skin. In the liquid state, nerve agents are hazardous via skin or eye contact and through ingestion. Generally, all nerve agents are highly toxic and fast acting.

How can someone come into contact with nerve agents? Nerve agent poisoning does not spread from person to person. Accidental contact with nerve agents is not likely; it would take a planned act to make a nerve agent and use it to poison people.

Read more: Novichok: the deadly story behind the nerve agent This is why Novichok is most likely a persistent nerve agent, which may last for days or weeks in the environment before being diluted through natural weathering or neutralised by the action of sunlight, bacteria or water./span>

Share on Pinterest Polonium-210 is highly radioactive substance and a lethal poison. Polonium is a radioactive chemical element (atomic number 84) that was discovered in 1898 by Marie Curie, who named the element after her country, Poland.

Sturgess

Did anybody die in the Salisbury Poisonings? Although Sergei and Yulia Skripal survived the poisoning, the incident did claim the life of 44-year-old Dawn Sturgess, a mum-of-three from Amesbury, and also left her boyfriend Charlie Rowley critically ill. … Tragically, Dawn died eight days later./span>

According to UK sources and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), they were poisoned by means of a Novichok nerve agent. Both Sergei and Yulia Skripal spent several weeks in hospital in critical condition, before being discharged.

A police officer who was poisoned in the Salisbury Novichok attack is “fighting for part of his pension”, his wife has said. Det Sgt Nick Bailey, who was contaminated with the nerve agent at the home of Sergei and Yulia Skripal, left Wiltshire Police in October./span>

British prosecutors have charged two Russians with the Novichok poisoning of ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia. A European arrest warrant has been issued, but Russia does not extradite its nationals./span>