Identify the Methods for Toxicant Elimination, Essay Example

A toxicant is a substance that may be harmful to the human body; and therefore must be expelled through a bodily function or changed by a chemical reaction. The various methods for eliminating toxicants include: renal elimination, fecal elimination, pulmonary elimination, biotransformation, and elimination via minor route (Excretion of Toxicants, 2013). Being that an excess of toxins in the body can greatly affect the organism’s ability to function, the body is well equipped to eliminate waste and other potentially harmful xenobiotics. Simply put, biotransformation is a chemical reaction that occurs within the body and converts a chemical into another, usually involving oxidation and/or excretion (Biotransformation, 2012). One of the most common substances that must be removed from the body is hemoglobin. Hemoglobin is a natural bodily chemical that is ejected when red blood cells are destroyed. The body naturally changes hemoglobin to bilirubin through a chemical reaction. However, even bilirubin can be hazardous to the body, as it can cause brain damage when too much is created. It is then transformed into a solution that can then be excreted through bile (Tenhunen, 1968). This chemical reaction occurs in the liver, and although many scientists have hypothesized about the exact process of the hemoglobin’s conversion to bilirubin, the exact steps are unknown (Tenhunen, 1968).

The process of biotransformation requires the assistance of enzymes, without which the reaction would occur extremely slowly, or it would never be completed at all. The enzymes needed for biotransformation are made up of amino acids, and very specific amino acid chains are necessary to catalyze certain chemical reactions (Biotransformation, 2012). These chemical reactions that eliminate harmful toxicants from the body are essential for removing waste, preventing buildup, and transforming harmful chemicals into benign chemicals before they can significantly affect or damage the body (Excretion of Toxicants, 2013). Toxicant eliminate is constantly occurring in the body and comes in many different forms.

Recourses

“Biotransformation.” The Encyclopedia of Earth. Ed. Emily Monosson. N.p., 22 Feb. 2012. Web. <http://www.eoearth.org/view/article/150674/>.

“Excretion of Toxicants.” The Encyclopedia of Earch. Ed. Sidney Draggan. N.p., 28 Feb. 2013. Web. <http://www.eoearth.org/view/article/152706/>.

Tenhunen, Raimo, Harvey S. Marver, and Rudi Schmid. “The Enzymatic Conversion of Heme to Bilirubin by Microsomal Heme Oxygenase.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 61.2 (1968): 748-55. JSTOR. Web. 22 July 1968. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/59140?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents>.