By 202380261
Discussion
Everything in the environment is made out of chemicals. These chemicals can either be naturally occurring or synthetic. Both types can be toxic to living organisms; thus natural chemicals can also cause negative effects. Just because they are "natural," does not mean that they are safe.
People often have a misconception about chemicals. Frequently, they only think about synthetic, toxic compounds. It is important to highlight that we use chemicals in our everyday lives, from the time we wakeup until the time we fall asleep.
For example, toothpaste contains fluoride, sodium lauryl sulfate, calcium phosphate, strontium chloride, and hydrogen peroxide, etc. And so, we come into contact with these chemicals while brushing our teeth.
Given the enormous number of toxicants, it is difficult to classify them, either chemically, by function, or by mode of action since many of them would fall into several classes. Some are natural products, many are synthetic organic chemicals of use to society, while some are byproducts of industrial processes and waste disposal.
It is useful to categorize toxicants according to the expected routes of exposure or according to their uses.
➤ include toxicants in food, air, water, and soil as well as toxicants characteristic of domestic and occupational settings.
➤ include drugs of abuse, therapeutic drugs, agricultural chemicals, food additives and contaminants, metals, solvents, combustion products, cosmetics, and toxins.
➤ Some of these, such as combustion products, are the products of use processes rather than being use classes.