Toxicity of Chemicals in the Environment

The public s perception of toxicity and risk often differs from that found by scientific testing.16 The idea that natural 17 is better than chemical is overly simplistic. Many chemicals found in nature are extremely potent biologically. Mycotoxins are among these.18 Aflatoxins (1.4) were discovered when turkeys fed moldy ground nut (peanut) meal became ill and died. They are among the most potent carcinogens known. 

Vikings went berserk after eating derivatives of lysergic acid (1.5) made by the ergot fungus growing on rye. 

Some Amanita mushrooms are notorious for the poisons that they contain. A Japanese fish delicacy of globe fish or 

The natural insecticide Sabadilla, which is popular with organic farmers, contains 30 alkaloids present at a level of 3-6% in the seeds of Schoenocaulon officinale.235 It can affect the cardiovascular system, respiration, nerve fibers, and skeletal muscles of humans. Gastrointestinal symptoms and hypotension may also result from its ingestion. 

Congress added the Delaney clause to the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act in 1958.20 The clause reads No additive shall be deemed to be safe if it is found to induce cancer when ingested by man or animal, or if it is found, after tests which are appropriate for the evaluation of the safety of food additives, to induce cancer in man or animal. It does not cover natural carcinogens in foods or environmental carcinogens, such as chlorinated dioxins and polychlorinated biphenyls. The Delaney clause was used to ban saccharin in 1973, but the U. S. Congress overrode this 

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