Introduction
Global Climate change caused by various factors is an emerging problem that causes several long-standing environmental changes. Climate change causes an increase in temperature, rising sea levels, and altered weather conditions, resulting in changes in the environmental distribution and toxicity of chemical pollutants. Several studies show that climate change alters the interaction of toxins with environmental parameters, temperature, precipitation, and salinity. Climate toxicology deals with the impact of toxic chemicals on human health due to global climate change.
What Is Toxicology?
Toxicology is a branch of science that studies the harmful effects of chemicals, situations, or substances on living organisms and the environment. Toxicology explains how chemicals impact living organisms and the environment using scientific data. Chemical contaminants in the environment affect human health both directly and indirectly. Direct toxic effects include acute poisonings and triggering of acute events like cardiac arrhythmias and asthma attacks, and chronic effects include cancer and immunosuppression. Indirect effects are associated with changes in food supply and water sources as a result of chemical contamination or due to the selection of antibiotic resistance traits in bacteria exposed to veterinary and human antibiotics, metals, and other toxic substances.
What Are the Types of Toxicology?
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Environmental toxicology - Air, water, soil.
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Forensic toxicology - Investigation of death, poisoning, and drug use.
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Industrial toxicology - In Biotech, Agriculture, and pharmaceutical companies.
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Clinical toxicology - Prescribed medicines.
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Analytical toxicology - Quantitative and qualitative analysis of poisons.
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Consumer toxicology - Food, cosmetics, and drugs.
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Immuno toxicology - Antigen-antibody interaction during poisoning.
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Reproductive toxicology - Effect of toxins on reproductive organs.
What Is Meant by Climate Toxicology?
Due to large levels of environmental pollution and the resulting emission of carbon dioxide gas and other substances, the global climate is changing at an unpredictable rate. Climate toxicology deals with the impact of these climate changes due to environmental pollution on human health by increasing exposure to toxic chemicals.
What Is Climate Change?
Climate change refers to a shift in temperature and weather patterns over a long period due to environmental changes caused by gas, coal, factories, and transport gasses. When fossil fuels burn, they release gasses like carbon dioxide. These gasses trap the sun’s heat and cause the temperature to rise. Climate change can happen in a specific region, or it may occur across the Earth. The causes of climate change consist of human causes and natural causes.
Human Causes of Climate Change Include:
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Rapid industrialization.
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Burning fossil fuels.
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Deforestation.
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Chemical fertilizers.
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Industrial gasses.
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Increased vehicles.
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Agricultural changes.
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Air pollution
Natural Causes of Climate Change Include:
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Ocean currents.
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Forest fire.
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Volcanic eruptions.
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Meteorites.
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Continental drift.
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Eccentricity.
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Axial tilt.
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Solar variations.
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Greenhouse gasses.
What Are the Effects of Climate Change?
Climate change results in a series of events such as rising temperature, rising sea levels, unpredictable weather patterns, increased extreme weather events, land degradation, and loss of wildlife and biodiversity.
How are Global Climate Change and Toxicology Related?
Global climate change results in rising temperatures and unpredictable weather patterns. These changes will result in altered health effects of toxic chemicals.
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The toxic effects of pesticides are increased during warm environmental conditions. Increasing temperature will enhance the toxicity of chemicals in air pollutants and persistent organic pollutants (POPs), including organochlorine pesticides and other pesticides. Climate change and air pollution can potentially seriously harm human health in urban and polluted regions.
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Climate change produces alterations in food webs, lipid dynamics, ice and snowmelt, and organic carbon cycling and results in increased persistent organic pollutants levels in the water, soil and flora, and fauna of the region.
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Elevated water temperature alters the biotransformation of contaminants to more active chemicals and results in impaired homeostasis.
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Global climate change increases chemical toxicity due to the depletion of the ozone layer. The ozone layer helps to filter out the harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiations present in the atmosphere. Increased ultraviolet rays (UV) levels at the earth’s surface increase the toxicity associated with phototoxic chemicals and result in elevated chemical toxicity with exposure to UV radiation. Phototoxic chemicals consist of titanium dioxide nanoparticles, which are a common ingredient in, medicine, sunscreen, and toothpaste.
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Studies show that increasing body temperature increases the activity of enzymes involved in the metabolism of toxic chemicals, some of which detoxify the chemical, but many of which increase chemical toxicity.
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Chronic stress aggravates the adverse effect of toxic chemicals. Global climate change increases stress in those populations facing food or water insecurity or who have been displaced by climate-driven events.
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Increased temperature has been shown to increase the toxicity of some metals, including lead and cadmium, on wildlife health and for humans as well. A similar relationship is reported between pesticides and air pollution: the negative effects of these toxic chemicals on the heart, lungs, and brain are exacerbated by increasing temperature.
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Smoke generated by wildfires, and the toxic chemicals generated by pyrolysis that remain in the debris, pose significant risks to human health. The toxic components present in wildfire smoke, like carbon monoxide and particulate matter, exacerbate cardiorespiratory disease and impact brain function. However, wildfire debris also contains elevated levels of toxic metals and persistent organic pollutants.
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Changes in salinity due to climate change affect aquatic organisms as an independent stressor, altering the bioavailability and, in some instances, increasing the toxicity of chemicals.
What Is the Impact of Climate Change on the Toxicity of Pesticides?
An increase in temperature, precipitation regime changes, and extreme climate events can potentially affect pesticide toxicity. Temperature, moisture, acidification, hypoxia, soil carbon cycle, and soil dynamics are altered due to climate change. Interaction between climate change and contaminants will cause harmful effects on organisms. Climate change results in altered temperature and soil moisture and impacts on acidification. Climate change results in variations in temperature and soil moisture and significantly affects the bioavailability of pesticides in the soil and the growth and reproduction of earthworm species.
Conclusion
Climate change alters the distribution and toxicity of chemical contaminants in the environment. The toxic effects of pesticides and airborne chemicals are increased when exposure occurs in a warm climate. Pulmonary intake of air pollutants, absorption of pesticides applied to the skin, and cellular toxicity is elevated when the air temperature increases. Climate changes also alter the salinity of the aquatic environment.
