SUBMODULE 7.1. GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF POISONING
A chemical injury is structural and functional disorder caused by chemical or physical-chemical effect of substances entering the body from outside. This type of injury includes poisoning (resulting from the general effect of exogenous substances on the body) and chemical burns (resulting from local injuring effect of substances).
Poison is a substance entering the body from outside and producing chemical or chemico-physical effect, which dissolves in the body media and is able to cause poisoning even in small doses.
Poisoning or intoxication is a functional disorder in the body caused by a poisonous substance and resulting in illness or death.
The poisonous effect on the body is determined by the state of matter, its dose, concentration in the entering solution and the body biological media, its ability to produce a cumulative and combined effect with other poisons, the way the poison is excreted from the body, and the properties of the body per se. Gaseous poisons are faster to enter the blood stream through the lungs; liquids are more rapidly absorbed than solid substances. The latter have to be dissolved in the body fluids. The slower the poison enters the bloodstream, the smaller its concentration and toxic effect. The dose is the amount of a poison that entered the body. An increased dose changes the poisonous effect from indifferent to toxic or fatal. An increase in the poison's concentration in the solution increases its toxic effect. Some substances accumulate in the body because of slow excretion and cause poisoning long time after the poison intake. The poisonous effect on a body sensitized to the poison may cause serious outcomes and even a fatal outcome while in a relatively small dose. Repetitive intake of small doses of several poisons increases tolerance to these poisons.