Chemical Warfare Among Insects
Insects have m
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Insects have many enemies, including birds, small mammals, reptiles, and other insects (Insect, 2003). Most insects are armed to ward off attack from other insects, including having weapons of chemical warfare. These include the stings of bees, wasps, and some ants, the poison sprayed by the bombardier beetle, and a foul-tasting yellow fluid given off by ladybugs when attacked. The bombardier beetle stores two separate chemicals - hydroquinone and hydrogen peroxide - that are kept separate until the beetle is threatened. When threats occur, the two liquids are squirted through two tubes, where they are mixed together, and a small amount of catalytic enzymes is added. This causes a violent exothermic reaction to take place, and a boiling-hot (more than 2100F) and poisonous mixture is formed which can cause painful blisters on the skin of humans. A perfect example of chemical warfare among insects is the wasp Inchneumon eumerus, which hunts out the caterpillar of Maculinea rebeli, a rare, large, blue butterfly found in Alpine pastures (Highfield, 2002). This caterpillar lives in a nest of Myrmica schencki antĘs, mimicking the red antĘs larvae behavior and scent signals. The wasp must negotiate the antĘs nest to reach the caterpillar and lay its eggs in it. To distract the soldier ants, the wasp releases a chemical that first attracts the ants and then causes them to become very aggressive and fight among themselves. While the ants are busy fighting each other, the
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3. Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons and Cancer
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are found in every industry, especially those in which substances are burned, such as aluminum smelting and the production of coke (Cancer, 2003). PAHs are airborne, and can be inhaled, and the risk of getting lung or bladder cancer from PAHs after occupational exposure has recently been quantified for the first time by the HSE. According to a meta-analysis, people who are exposed to 1 microgram/m3 of PAHs for more than 40 years are 8 percent more likely to develop lung cancer. The risks for bladder cancer were not calculated since far fewer people develop this form of cancer from PAH exposure.
The risk of lung cancer among adults exposed to atmospheric PAHs was assessed in a French study (Zmirou, Masclet, Boudet, Dor and Dechenaux, 2000). Exposure to nine particulate-phase atmospheric PAHs was assessed in a group of non-smoking adult volunteers in a metropolitan area of Grenoble, France. For 48 hours continuously, 38 subjects who had not had specific occupational exposure to combustion sources of PAHs carried a PM2.5 particles personal exposure monitor while at home, at work, commuting, or engaging in other daily
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Approximate Word count = 3987
Approximate Pages = 16 (250 words per page)
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