Toxicokinetics may be the most important issue for usage of many substances. In our lives, from the food or drugs we usually ingest to the waste water and waste gas discharged from factories, our body may be affected in different ways. And the knowledge concerning these effects is so-called toxicokinetics.
Generally speaking, the core concept of toxicokinetics includes four aspects:
A — Absorption
D — Distribution
M — Metabolism
E — Excretion
【Four key concepts of Toxicokinetics】
Absorption
It meansthe ways that substances are absorbed into the human body, The most common ways are:
Inhalation：Such as PM 2.5, volatile gas
Digestion: Such as medicine, food
Skin contact: Such as makeups and skin care products
Different absorption ways have different barriers and absorption rates, which affects the subsequent distribution.
Distribution
When the substance enters the human body through different paths, it willbe dispersed to different parts of the body, through blood, lymphatic system or other diffusion ways, which affects the health impacts of the substance.
Metabolism
The most important metabolic organs in the human body are the liver and kidneys. Most of the substances will undergo biotransformation through these two organs and be metabolized into a form that can be excreted from the body.. There may be more than one step in the progress. It may take several actions of enzymes to make substances smoothly discharged from the body.
Excretion
After substances are metabolized to certain forms, and then they will be sent to the target organs of the body for excretion. These target organs include kidneys, skin, lungs, intestines, etc. By means of concentration gradient, active transportation, or other ways, these end-products of metabolism are excluded from the body.
Not all substances will undergo the above four steps in the human body. They may be eliminated directly without undergoing human metabolism, or there may be almost no distribution process.
So why do we need to discuss the above four aspects?
As far as food is concerned, the absorption rate of food will affect whether our nutrient intake is adequate. The toxicokinetics of harmful substances in food can be used to further understand its hazards. In the same way, the safety of drug usage can also be measured, and therecommended dosage, safety range, applicable population, interactions, side effectscan be calculated.
Now, we believe you have already understood why 【Toxicokinetics】 is very important to everyone. All the substances we come into contact with in our lives can be evaluated through the same principles forquantitative analysis. "Too much or too little of everything are both worse.", which is stated in toxicokinetics. Through analysis, we can knowwhat dosage range is the most appropriate for human health, rather than endless demanding more or not taking.
【Toxicokinetics】
Everything is toxic, or non-toxic.
It all depends onthe dosage.
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