Polychlorinated Biphenyls
Industrial products consisting of a mixture of chlorinated biphenyl congeners and isomers. These compounds are highly lipophilic and tend to accumulate in fat stores of animals. Many of these compounds are considered toxic and potential environmental pollutants.
Aroclors
Industrial chemicals which have become widespread environmental pollutants. Each aroclor is a mixture of chlorinated biphenyls (1200 series) or chlorinated terphenyls (5400 series) or a combination of both (4400 series).
Environmental Pollutants
Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated
Hydrocarbon compounds with one or more of the hydrogens replaced by CHLORINE.
Dichlorodiphenyl Dichloroethylene
An organochlorine pesticide, it is the ethylene metabolite of DDT.
Dioxins
Chlorinated hydrocarbons containing heteroatoms that are present as contaminants of herbicides. Dioxins are carcinogenic, teratogenic, and mutagenic. They have been banned from use by the FDA.
Polybrominated Biphenyls
Biphenyl compounds which are extensively brominated. Many of these compounds are toxic environmental pollutants.
Biphenyl Compounds
Great Lakes Region
Biodegradation, Environmental
Elimination of ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTANTS; PESTICIDES and other waste using living organisms, usually involving intervention of environmental or sanitation engineers.
Food Contamination
Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers
Compounds that contain two halogenated benzene rings linked via an OXYGEN atom. Many polybrominated diphenyl ethers are used as FLAME RETARDANTS.
Environmental Exposure
Soil Pollutants
Substances which pollute the soil. Use for soil pollutants in general or for which there is no specific heading.
Tetrachlorodibenzodioxin
Maternal Exposure
Exposure of the female parent, human or animal, to potentially harmful chemical, physical, or biological agents in the environment or to environmental factors that may include ionizing radiation, pathogenic organisms, or toxic chemicals that may affect offspring. It includes pre-conception maternal exposure.
Body Burden
Water Pollutants, Chemical
Chemical compounds which pollute the water of rivers, streams, lakes, the sea, reservoirs, or other bodies of water.
Pesticides
Chemicals used to destroy pests of any sort. The concept includes fungicides (FUNGICIDES, INDUSTRIAL); INSECTICIDES; RODENTICIDES; etc.
Slovakia
Created 1 January 1993 as a result of the division of Czechoslovakia into the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
Flame Retardants
Pesticide Residues
Chlordan
A highly poisonous organochlorine insecticide. The EPA has cancelled registrations of pesticides containing this compound with the exception of its use through subsurface ground insertion for termite control and the dipping of roots or tops of non-food plants. (From Merck Index, 11th ed)
Environmental Monitoring
Milk, Human
Pentachlorophenol
An insecticide and herbicide that has also been used as a wood preservative. Pentachlorphenol is a widespread environmental pollutant. Both chronic and acute pentachlorophenol poisoning are medical concerns. The range of its biological actions is still being actively explored, but it is clearly a potent enzyme inhibitor and has been used as such as an experimental tool.
Dioxygenases
Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects
Insecticides
Endocrine Disruptors
Exogenous agents, synthetic and naturally occurring, which are capable of disrupting the functions of the ENDOCRINE SYSTEM including the maintenance of HOMEOSTASIS and the regulation of developmental processes. Endocrine disruptors are compounds that can mimic HORMONES, or enhance or block the binding of hormones to their receptors, or otherwise lead to activating or inhibiting the endocrine signaling pathways and hormone metabolism.
Chromatography, Gas
Fractionation of a vaporized sample as a consequence of partition between a mobile gaseous phase and a stationary phase held in a column. Two types are gas-solid chromatography, where the fixed phase is a solid, and gas-liquid, in which the stationary phase is a nonvolatile liquid supported on an inert solid matrix.
Cytochrome P-450 CYP1A1
A liver microsomal cytochrome P-450 monooxygenase capable of biotransforming xenobiotics such as polycyclic hydrocarbons and halogenated aromatic hydrocarbons into carcinogenic or mutagenic compounds. They have been found in mammals and fish. This enzyme, encoded by CYP1A1 gene, can be measured by using ethoxyresorufin as a substrate for the ethoxyresorufin O-deethylase activity.
Dichlorodiphenyldichloroethane
DDT
A polychlorinated pesticide that is resistant to destruction by light and oxidation. Its unusual stability has resulted in difficulties in residue removal from water, soil, and foodstuffs. This substance may reasonably be anticipated to be a carcinogen: Fourth Annual Report on Carcinogens (NTP-85-002, 1985). (From Merck Index, 11th ed)
Preconception Injuries
Damages to reproductive health prior to conception (FERTILIZATION), a legal term for torts liability concerning environmental safety issues. Preconception injuries may involve either the male or the female, such as chromosomal mutations in the OVA or the SPERMATOZOA.
Chlorobenzenes
Chlorobenzenes are organic compounds consisting of a benzene ring substituted with one or more chlorine atoms, used as solvents, refrigerants, and intermediates in the production of other chemicals, but with limited use due to environmental and health concerns.
Chlorine
A greenish-yellow, diatomic gas that is a member of the halogen family of elements. It has the atomic symbol Cl, atomic number 17, and atomic weight 70.906. It is a powerful irritant that can cause fatal pulmonary edema. Chlorine is used in manufacturing, as a reagent in synthetic chemistry, for water purification, and in the production of chlorinated lime, which is used in fabric bleaching.
Hydroxylation
Pregnancy
Burkholderia
A genus of gram-negative, aerobic, rod-shaped bacteria. Organisms in this genus had originally been classified as members of the PSEUDOMONAS genus but overwhelming biochemical and chemical findings indicated the need to separate them from other Pseudomonas species, and hence, this new genus was created.
Chlorobenzoates
Benzoic acid or benzoic acid esters substituted with one or more chlorine atoms.
Toxaphene
A very complex, but reproducible mixture of at least 177 C10 polychloro derivatives, having an approximate overall empirical formula of C10-H10-Cl8. It is used as an insecticide and may reasonably be anticipated to be a carcinogen: Fourth Annual Report on Carcinogens (NTP 85-002, 1985). (From Merck Index, 11th ed)
Endocrine System
Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry
Geologic Sediments
A mass of organic or inorganic solid fragmented material, or the solid fragment itself, that comes from the weathering of rock and is carried by, suspended in, or dropped by air, water, or ice. It refers also to a mass that is accumulated by any other natural agent and that forms in layers on the earth's surface, such as sand, gravel, silt, mud, fill, or loess. (McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 4th ed, p1689)
Receptors, Aryl Hydrocarbon
Cytoplasmic proteins that bind certain aryl hydrocarbons, translocate to the nucleus, and activate transcription of particular DNA segments. AH receptors are identified by their high-affinity binding to several carcinogenic or teratogenic environmental chemicals including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons found in cigarette smoke and smog, heterocyclic amines found in cooked foods, and halogenated hydrocarbons including dioxins and polychlorinated biphenyls. No endogenous ligand has been identified, but an unknown natural messenger with a role in cell differentiation and development is suspected.
Chemical Processes
Water Pollution, Chemical
Adverse effect upon bodies of water (LAKES; RIVERS; seas; groundwater etc.) caused by CHEMICAL WATER POLLUTANTS.
Fishes
Oxygenases
Pseudomonas
Polycyclic Hydrocarbons, Aromatic
A major group of unsaturated cyclic hydrocarbons containing two or more rings. The vast number of compounds of this important group, derived chiefly from petroleum and coal tar, are rather highly reactive and chemically versatile. The name is due to the strong and not unpleasant odor characteristic of most substances of this nature. (From Hawley's Condensed Chemical Dictionary, 12th ed, p96)
Hydrocarbons, Halogenated
Halogenated hydrocarbons refer to organic compounds containing carbon and hydrogen atoms, where one or more hydrogen atoms are replaced by halogens such as fluorine, chlorine, bromine, or iodine.
Armoracia
Oils
Unctuous combustible substances that are liquid or easily liquefiable on warming, and are soluble in ether but insoluble in water. Such substances, depending on their origin, are classified as animal, mineral, or vegetable oils. Depending on their behavior on heating, they are volatile or fixed. (Dorland, 28th ed)
Thyroxine
The major hormone derived from the thyroid gland. Thyroxine is synthesized via the iodination of tyrosines (MONOIODOTYROSINE) and the coupling of iodotyrosines (DIIODOTYROSINE) in the THYROGLOBULIN. Thyroxine is released from thyroglobulin by proteolysis and secreted into the blood. Thyroxine is peripherally deiodinated to form TRIIODOTHYRONINE which exerts a broad spectrum of stimulatory effects on cell metabolism.
Seafood
Marine fish and shellfish used as food or suitable for food. (Webster, 3d ed) SHELLFISH and FISH PRODUCTS are more specific types of SEAFOOD.
Indiana
Maternal-Fetal Exchange
Exchange of substances between the maternal blood and the fetal blood at the PLACENTA via PLACENTAL CIRCULATION. The placental barrier excludes microbial or viral transmission.
Environmental Pollution
Chlorine Compounds
Inorganic compounds that contain chlorine as an integral part of the molecule.
Cytochrome P-450 CYP2B1
A major cytochrome P-450 enzyme which is inducible by PHENOBARBITAL in both the LIVER and SMALL INTESTINE. It is active in the metabolism of compounds like pentoxyresorufin, TESTOSTERONE, and ANDROSTENEDIONE. This enzyme, encoded by CYP2B1 gene, also mediates the activation of CYCLOPHOSPHAMIDE and IFOSFAMIDE to MUTAGENS.
Liver
Comamonas testosteroni
A species of gram-negative, aerobic rods formerly called Pseudomonas testosteroni. It is differentiated from other Comamonas species by its ability to assimilate testosterone and to utilize phenylacetate or maleate as carbon sources.
Enzyme Induction
Michigan
Arctic Regions
Endosulfan
A polychlorinated compound used for controlling a variety of insects. It is practically water-insoluble, but readily adheres to clay particles and persists in soil and water for several years. Its mode of action involves repetitive nerve-discharges positively correlated to increase in temperature. This compound is extremely toxic to most fish. (From Comp Biochem Physiol (C) 1993 Jul;105(3):347-61)
Biotransformation
The chemical alteration of an exogenous substance by or in a biological system. The alteration may inactivate the compound or it may result in the production of an active metabolite of an inactive parent compound. The alterations may be divided into METABOLIC DETOXICATION, PHASE I and METABOLIC DETOXICATION, PHASE II.
Thyroid Hormones
Natural hormones secreted by the THYROID GLAND, such as THYROXINE, and their synthetic analogs.
Soil Microbiology
Lindane
Quebec
A province of eastern Canada. Its capital is Quebec. The region belonged to France from 1627 to 1763 when it was lost to the British. The name is from the Algonquian quilibek meaning the place where waters narrow, referring to the gradually narrowing channel of the St. Lawrence or to the narrows of the river at Cape Diamond. (From Webster's New Geographical Dictionary, 1988, p993 & Room, Brewer's Dictionary of Names, 1992, p440)
Fetal Blood
Alcaligenes
Hazardous Waste
Aniline Hydroxylase
A drug-metabolizing, cytochrome P-450 enzyme which catalyzes the hydroxylation of aniline to hydroxyaniline in the presence of reduced flavoprotein and molecular oxygen. EC 1.14.14.-.
Rivers
Ecotoxicology
The study of ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION and the toxic effects of ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTANTS on the ECOSYSTEM. The term was coined by Truhaut in 1969.
Antithyroid Agents
Agents that are used to treat hyperthyroidism by reducing the excessive production of thyroid hormones.
Hydrocarbons, Brominated
Manufactured Materials
Iron-Sulfur Proteins
A group of proteins possessing only the iron-sulfur complex as the prosthetic group. These proteins participate in all major pathways of electron transport: photosynthesis, respiration, hydroxylation and bacterial hydrogen and nitrogen fixation.
Dose-Response Relationship, Drug
Cytochrome P-450 Enzyme System
A superfamily of hundreds of closely related HEMEPROTEINS found throughout the phylogenetic spectrum, from animals, plants, fungi, to bacteria. They include numerous complex monooxygenases (MIXED FUNCTION OXYGENASES). In animals, these P-450 enzymes serve two major functions: (1) biosynthesis of steroids, fatty acids, and bile acids; (2) metabolism of endogenous and a wide variety of exogenous substrates, such as toxins and drugs (BIOTRANSFORMATION). They are classified, according to their sequence similarities rather than functions, into CYP gene families (>40% homology) and subfamilies (>59% homology). For example, enzymes from the CYP1, CYP2, and CYP3 gene families are responsible for most drug metabolism.