Toxins in Everyday Life
Many of the substances naturally found in the environment or released by modern, industrialized society are harmful to humans and other living creatures. Common toxins include heavy metals (lead, cadmium, aluminum, mercury, and manganese), chlorine, organic chemicals (such as pesticides and herbicides), and radiation.
These substances may be found in the home, workplace, or backyard, in the food and water people eat and drink, and even in medications. Most of the chemicals attacked in Rachel Carson's 1962 book Silent Spring (Boston: Houghton Mifflin) are still used in the United States, and some that have been banned have been replaced by substances even more toxic.
Why Are Toxins Toxic?
A toxin is a substance—bacterial, viral, chemical, metal, fibrous, or radioactive—that poisons or harms a living organism. A toxin may cause immediate, acute symptoms such as gastroenteritis, or cause harm after long-term exposure such as living in a lead-or radon-contaminated home for many years. Some toxins can have both immediate and long-term effects: Living in an environment with cigarette smoke may trigger an acute asthma attack or, after many years' exposure, it may contribute to lung cancer. Although the effects of a toxin may not show up for years, these effects may, nevertheless, be serious.
This page contains 201 words.
Toxins in Everyday Life article
Read the rest of this article.
This article contains 15,469 words
(approx. 52 pages at 300 words per page).
Order our Toxin Article
