Noah Swart

Blog - Dose and Response

Industrial Hygiene

Mr. Moss

   Everything in the world is toxic, all that really matters is the dosage. That is that if you consume or absorb any amount of something it can cause bodily complications and even death. Although this can be debated based on the body’s ability to reject certain things in large portions. The idea of this is Dose and Response, how much of something you take and how your body responds to it. A more commonly known factor of this is LD50, which is the measurable dose at which a toxin kills 50 percent of the population.

Basic Dose -Response Curve

   Dose is how much of something you take into your body, it’s the measurable amount. The factors can be how it’s getting into your body, whether it be through ingestion, absorption through the skin or injection. Response is how your body reacts to the substance. This can depend on your weight, genetic predispositions, and most importantly what you took. The science of Dose and Response isn’t always accurate as the Scientifics of every toxin isn’t perfectly measured, and a lot of times the LD50 can be scientifically guessed.

A more complex Dose-Response relationship chart

   Carbon monoxide is something of a household horror story and is a good example of Dose and Response. In small quantities it produces drowsiness but in large quantities it can be deadly. Dose and Response is typically measured in a Dose-Response Curve, which is a chart that shows the direct line at which the dose increases how severely the response will increase. Governmental agencies in the United States such as the Environmental Protection Agency develop very detailed guides on Dose and Response to toxins, this guide is used in the creating of corporate and industrial guidelines.

  Although Dope and Response can sometimes be a chronic determination, in the instance of exposure to radiation over a certain course of time can have different effects. If its Ionizing radiation it can even have serious mutation of both your molecules and any offspring you’re likely to create. These factors show why the measuring and constant awareness of what we put into our bodies is so important.