BISC 313 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Insecticide, Endocrine Disruptor, Sunscreen

• School: Simon Fraser University
• Department: Department of Humanities Biological Sciences
• Course: BISC 313
• Professor: Vicki Marlatt

Document Summary

Lecture 2 sept 17 - intro to enviro tox. Recent history and significance of environmental toxicology: government regulations and regulatory toxicology. Introduction to rick assessment: definition, overview of process. Eco-toxicology is relatively new because we didn"t care about the environment until the 1940s- 50s: early evidence of environmental contaminants (ddt and dde, ddt first synthesized in 1874, modern role as an effective contact insecticide date from 1930s, agricultural pesticide and malaria/typhus control agent. After scrutiny beginning in late 1960s, ddt use was banned in canada in 1985 & us in 1972 but : dde, a breakdown product, lingers in the environment, still used in tropical countries today. Concentration of ddt in mg/kg (ppm) in various biota. 2nd concern after that fact that it"s persistent. What is biomagnification: organisms higher in the food chain accumulate higher levels of chemicals/toxicants than those lower down in the food chain. Rachel carson, silent spring (1962: new awareness for environmental issues.