Research Topic 1: Toxicology
Step 1: Independently answer each question
Step 2: Add information in your expert groups.
1. What does toxicology mean?
2. Give an example of the saying “the dose makes the poison”. In other words, what is a substance that
is beneficial in certain quantities but harmful in larger quantities?
3. What does it mean that the LD50 of botulinus toxin is 0.00001 mg/kg?
4. Name several factors that determine the level of toxicity?
5. How is the study of toxicology related to the death of Janette Williams?
Research Topic 2: Exposure, Routes of Entry, and Dose-Response
Step 1: Independently answer each question
Step 2: Add information in your expert groups.
1. What are three routes for exposure to a chemical?
2. What other factors determine the response to exposure of a chemical?
3. Do you think all routes of exposure are equivalent for a specific toxin? Explain.
4. What is the first thing that you do if….
a. You splash a harmful chemical on the skin of your
arm?
b. A harmful chemical mist irritates your eyes?
c. The smell of a noxious gas makes you feel dizzy?
5. Sketch the shape of a dose-response curve. What does this shape imply (mean)?
Research Topic 3: Household Product Labels
Step 1: Independently answer each question
Step 2: Add information in your expert groups.
1. Name and rank the 4 signal words found on labels of hazardous household products.
2. What term describes the property of a hazardous substance if it can…

destroy human tissue by a chemical reaction and
severely burn skin or eyes?

harm human tissue only after repeated exposure?

harm human tissue after one or more exposures

but the damage is reversible and tissue can be
restored?

readily undergo combustion?

explode if heated?

Cause long term negative effects in humans?
3. What symbol can you design for a product that contains a strong sensitizer?
Research Topic 4: Risk/Benefit Assessment
Step 1: Independently answer each question
Step 2: Add information in your expert groups.
1. Explain the concept of Risk-Benefit assessment.
2. Give an example of a decision relevant to your life involving risks and benefits.
3. Give two examples of the Risk-Benefit assessment for a household product of your choice. Explain
both the risk and the benefit of the household product.
Household Product
Risks
4. Why is a Risk-Benefit assessment important?
Benefits