| A | B |
|---|
| AIDS | An infectious disease caused by HIV. |
| Acute Disease | A disease that rapidly impairs the functioning of an organism. |
| Acute Studies | An experiment that exposes organisms to an environmental hazard for a short duration. |
| Allergens | A chemical that causes allergic reactions. |
| Bioaccumulation | An increased concentration of a chemical within an organism over time. |
| Biomagnification | An increased concentration of a chemical as it moves up the food chain. |
| Bird Flu | An often fatal virus contracted from birds. |
| Carcinogens | Chemicals that cause cancer. |
| Chronic Disease | A disease that slowly impairs the functioning of an organism. |
| Chronic Studies | An experiment that exposes organisms to an environmental hazard for a long duration. |
| Disease | Any impaired function of the body with a characteristic set of symptoms. |
| Dose-response Studies | A study that exposes organisms to different amounts of a chemical and then observes a variety of possible responses, including mortality or changes in behavior or reproduction. |
| ED50 | 50% of the individuals in a dose-response study display harmful, but nonlethal effects. |
| Emergent Diseases | An infectious disease that has not been previously described or has not been common for at least 20 years. |
| Endocrine Disruptors | Adversely effect hormone balance or disrupt normal function in the organs that hormones regulate |
| Environmental Hazard | Anything in the environment that can potentially cause harm. |
| Epidemic | A situation in which a pathogen causes a rapid increase in disease. |
| Epidemiology | The study of the causes of illness and disease in the human an animal population. |
| Ebola | An infectious disease with high death rates, caused by the Ebola virus. |
| HIV | A virus that causes AIDS. |
| Infectious Disease | A disease caused by a pathogen. |
| Innocent-until-proven-guilty Principle | Based on the philosophy that a potential hazard should not be considered an actual hazard until the scientific data definitively demonstrate that it actually causes harm. |
| Mad Cow Disease | A disease in which the prions mutate into deadly pathogens and slowly damage a cow's nervous system. |
| Malaria | An infectious disease caused by one of several species of proteins, carbs, vitamins and minerals. |
| Mutagens | Carcinogens that cause damage to the genetic material of a cell. |
| Neutrotoxins | A chemical that disrupts the nervous systems of animals. |
| Pandemic | An epidemic that occurs over a large region. |
| Persistance | The length of time a chemical remains in the environment. |
| Plague | AN infectious disease caused by the bacterium carried by fleas. |
| Prions | A small, beneficial protein that occasionally mutates into a pathogen. |
| Probablity | The likelihood that an event occurs. |
| Perspective Studies | A study that monitors people who might become exposed to harmful chemicals in the future. |
| REACH | A 2007 agreement among the nations of the European Union about regulation of chemicals. |
| Retrospective Studies | A study that monitors people that have been exposed to an environmental hazard. |
| Routes of Exposure | The way in which an individual might come into contact with an environmental hazard. |
| Solubility | How well a chemical dissolves in a liquid. |
| Stockholm Convention | A 2001 agreement among 127 nations concerning 12 chemicals to be banned, phased out or reduced. |
| Sublethal Effects | The effects of an environmental hazard that are not lethal but have an effect. |
| Synergstic Interactions | Risks that cause more harm together than expected based on separate individual risks. |
| Teratogens | Chemicals that interfere with development of embryos or fetuses. |
| Tuberculosis | A highly contagious disease caused by bacteria that targets the lungs. |
| West Nile Virus | A disease prominent in under developed countries, caused by a virus mosquitoes carry. |
