Environmental physiological effects

The physiological effects of N2O (laughing gas, anaesthetic) and NO2 (acrid, corrosive fumes) have been known from the earliest days, and the environmental problems of NOj from automobile exhaust fumes and as a component in photochemical smog are well known in all industrial countries. 

Qrasman KA, Scanlon PF, Fox GA. 1998. Reproductive and physiological effects of environmental contaminants in fish-eating birds of the Great Lakes a review of historical trends. Environ Monit Assess 53 117-145. 

Mandal, P.K. (2005) Dioxin a reviewofits environmental effects and its aryl hydrocarbon receptor biology. Journal of Comparative Physiology B Biochemical, Systemic, and Environmental Physiology, 175, 221-230. 

Witherup S, Cleveland FP, Shaffer FE, et al. 1955. The physiological effects of the introduction of heptachlor into the diet of experimental animals in varying levels of concentration Report of Experiment No. 2. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Freedom of Information Office, MRID No. 00062599. 

Multiple comorbid conditions, environmental conditions, genetic variations, and the physiologic effects of aging all interact with each otherto affect drug disposition in the elderly,... 

There have been several recent studies of the physiologic effects or chlorine. These have considered chlorine both as an occupational exposure and as an environmental pollutant (see references). The National Institute of Occupational Safely and Health study recommended ait 0.5 ppm concentration of chlorine in air for any 15-minute sampling period as (he maximum permissible ceiling value. This contrasts with the generally accepted value of I ppm TLV (lime weighted average for an eight hour exposure). 

Although these cations and anions are indispensable, excessive amounts of them are toxic, so that it is important that their concentrations are regulated, either by mechanisms existing in the animal or by externally imposed controls. There are also several kinds of metal ions found in Nature which do not appear to serve any useful biological function but which are highly toxic if they are absorbed into the body. These include arsenic and the environmental pollutants lead, cadmium and mercury ions. Most of the remaining metals occur as inert species such as the aluminosilicates and titanium dioxide that are poorly absorbed, if at all, by plants and animals, or are present in only trace amounts and have little physiological effect. 

Wardle, C.S. (1980). Effects of temperature on the maximum swimming speed of fishes. In Environmental Physiology of Fishes (M.A. Ali, ed.), pp.519-531, NATO Advanced Study Institute Series, No. 35, Plenum Press, New York. 

Nausea and Vomiting Cachexia Glaucoma Other Uses Physiological Effects Acute Effects Longer-Term Effects Psychological Effects Behavioral Effects Cognitive Effects Emotional Effects Social and Environmental Effects Summary... 

Some widely used fluorotensides have recently become the focus of environmental concerns. Compounds such as perfluorooctyl sulfonic acid and perfluoroocta-noic acid (PFOA) have environmental lifetimes on a nearly geological time-scale. Traces of these substances have been found to be present in the remotest locations on earth and the source of the contamination remains unclear. There is not yet much unambiguous evidence of negative physiological effects of these widely used fluorosurfactants, although perfluorooctyl carboxylates have attracted some critical attention as a potential developmental toxin in rats [37]. Some major producers have, therefore, already started to replace these tensides by more readily degradable alternative compounds. 

The battery of biomarkers discussed here may be used as indicators of probable carbon disulfide exposure. However, the physiological effects of carbon disulfide poisoning are numerous and range from mild to severe. Their utilization as biomarkers of effect are confounded by their occurrence in response to other epidemiological, nutritional, and environmental factors. Their significance as biomarkers is further reduced by the fact that these effects occur with great variance in the cohort exposed population. 

To conclude on the question of physiological effects, some apparent benefits of certain natural phenols were mentioned in Chapter 1. However, recently a number of synthetic phenols have been implicated as environmentally persistent and weakly to markedly estrogenic in their action. In consequence it has been suggested that they may be the etiological agents in several human disorders (ref. 331). The relative biodegradability (ref. 285) which appears in certain cases to favour natural compared with synthetic phenolic compounds may be a useful environmental factor. 

---