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Chapter 4
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36
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Not Applicable
09/16/2012

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Cards

Term

Absorbed dose

Definition

 

 

 the amount of a chemical that enters the body of an exposed organism

Term
 Background level 
Definition

 

the normal ambient environmental concentration of a chemical        

 

Term

 Cancer

Definition

 

 

 a disease characterized by the uncontrolled growth of aberrant cells into malignant tumors

Term

Carcinogen 

Definition

 

 

 a chemical causes cancer

Term

 Carcinogenic potency

Definition

 

 

  the estimated risk of cancer per unit of absorbed dose

 

Term

Dermal 

Definition

 referring to the skin, through or by the skin

Term

Dose response 

Definition

 a quantitative relationship between the dose of a chemical and an effect cased by the chemical

Term

Environmental fate

Definition

 the destiny of a chemical after its release to the environment and in consideration of factors such as transport through air, soil and water, bioconcentration and degradation

Term

Epidemiological study

Definition

  the investigation of elements that contribute to disease or toxic effects in human populations

Term

Exposure

Definition

 contact with a chemical or physical agent

Term

 

 

Exposure assessment 

Definition

 

 

 the determination or estimation (qualitative or quantitative) or the magnitude, frequency, duration, route, and extent (number of people) of exposure to a substance.

Term

 

 

Exposure level 

Definition

 

 

  the amount (concentration) of a substance at the absorptive surface of an organism

Term

Exposure scenario

Definition

 a set of conditions or assumptions regarding sources, exposure pathways, concentrations of toxic chemicals, and populations (numbers, characteristics and habits) that are used to assist the investigator in evaluating and quantifying exposure

Term

Extrapolation

Definition

 the estimation of unknown values through the extension or projection of known values

Term

 

Half-life 

Definition

 the length of time required for the mass, concentration, or activity of a chemical or physical agent to be reduced by one half

Term

Ingestion 

Definition

 the act of taking in through the mouth

Term

Metabolism 

Definition

  the sum of the chemical reactions that occur within a cell or a whole organism, including the energy-releasing breakdown of molecules and the synthesis of new molecules

Term

Metabolite

Definition

 any product of metabolism, especially a transformed chemical

Term

Modeling 

Definition

  the use of mathematical equations to simulate and predict real events and processes

Term

Monitoring 

Definition

 the measure of concentrations of substances in environmental media or in human or other biological tissues.

Term

Mutagenicity

Definition

 the capacity of a chemical or physical agent to cause permanent alteration of the genetic material within living cells

Term

NOAEL 

Definition

 (no observe adverse effect level) the highest dose in an experiment that did not produce an observable effect

Term

Oral 

Definition

 referring to the mouth, through or by the mouth

Term

Population at risk

Definition

  a population subgroup that is more likely to be exposed to a substance or more sensitive to a substance than the general population

Term

Receptor 

Definition

 in an exposure assessment, an organism that receives, may receive, or has received environmental exposure to a chemical

Term

Reference dose 

Definition

 the USEPA's preferred toxicity value of a daily exposure level for the human population that is likely to be without an appreciable risk of deleterious effects during a lifetime

Term

Risk

Definition

 the potential for negative consequences or events

Term

Risk assessment

Definition

  a qualitative or quantitative evaluation of the environmental and/or health risk resulting from exposure to a chemical or physical agent (pollutant), combines exposure assessment results with toxicity assessment results to estimate risk.

Term

Risk estimate

Definition

  a description of the probability that organisms exposed to a specified dose of chemical will develop an adverse response

Term

Risk factor 

Definition

  characteristic (race, sex, age, obesity) or variable (smoking, occupational exposure level) associated with the increased probability of an adverse effect.

Term

Route of exposure 

Definition

 the avenue by which a chemical gains access to the body (inhalation, ingestion, dermal contact)

Term

Slope factor 

Definition

 the estimated increased lifetime risk of cancer per unit of absorbed dose

Term

Threshold

Definition

 the lowest dose of a chemical at which a specified measurable effect is observed and below which it is not observed

Term

Toxicity

Definition

 the quality or degree of being poisonous or harmful to plant, animal or human life

Term

Toxicity assessment

Definition

 the characterization of the toxicological properties and effects of a chemical, including all aspects of its absorption, metabolism, excretion and mechanism of action with special emphasis on establishment of dose-response characteristics

Term

 

 

Uncertainly factor

Definition

 

 

 a number (equal to or greater than one) used to divide NOAEL or LOAEL values derived from measurements in animal or small groups of humans in order to estimate a NOAEL value for the whole human population.

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