Biological factors. Biological factors and their characteristics

Yu. V. Abakumova, Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor

A variety of diseases caused by poor nutrition are currently on the rise in all countries of the European Region, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) Food and Nutrition Action Plan for the WHO European Region 2007-2012. For example, today obesity is not a disease of a few, but an epidemic that has spread to entire countries. Outbreaks of foodborne diseases continue to be a pressing problem for European health. The trend continues despite the fact that all these countries have adopted nutrition and food safety policies at the state level, WHO notes.

Relevance of the problem

Ensuring food safety is one of the main tasks of modern society. Illnesses associated with consumption of unsafe food have a significant impact on human health. In some cases, this can cause death.

Everyone knows that nutrition is the most important factor in maintaining health, preventing a number of diseases, ensuring normal growth and development of children and adolescents, maintaining high performance in the adult population, and improving the quality and life expectancy. But we should not forget that almost all natural foods also contain factors potentially dangerous to the human body. Their character is different. Their influence on human health is also different.

Harmful food factors can be divided into the following groups: biological, chemical factors, natural toxins.

Biological factors

Contamination of food products with helminths, protozoa, bacteria, viruses, and prions is defined as a biological factor.

According to WHO, foodborne illnesses in 22% of cases are associated with microbial contamination of eggs and egg products (only when eating raw eggs), in 13% - cakes and ice cream, in 15% - meat and meat products, 8% - milk and dairy products. products. It was also found that the largest number - 40% - of foodborne illnesses are associated with home cooking, 22% of infections occur in restaurants and cafes, 9% - in kindergartens and schools, 3% - in hospitals.

Despite the system of epidemiological and bacteriological control at different stages of food production, the problem of frequent foodborne toxic infections remains. In epidemiological terms, the leaders remain the bacteria of the Salmonellae group, which cause food infections, and Clostridium botulinum, which cause intoxication.

Hepatitis A viruses and enteroviruses are of great importance, capable of causing chronic damage to many organs and systems. A relatively new problem is prion infections, which cause the development of, for example, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and are characterized by insufficient knowledge of food chains and ineffective treatment. Infection with many helminths and protozoa also occurs through food.

There is a continuous variability of microorganisms, as a result of which their sensitivity to antimicrobial factors changes, new ecological niches are developed, pathogenicity and virulence change. Thus, Campylobacter jejuni is one of the rapidly spreading foodborne microorganisms.

The causative agent of botulism has mastered a new habitat - vacuum packaging. New virulent strains of Salmonella and Escherichia coli have emerged that cause long-term extraintestinal complications and are resistant to modern antibacterial agents. It has been established that different types of bacteria can exchange antibiotic resistance genes with each other.

An important problem is mycotoxicosis. Mycotoxins have mutagenic, teratogenic and carcinogenic activity, can be preserved during the processing of food raw materials, and are resistant to external environmental influences. Aflatoxins - metabolites of fungi of the genus Aspergillus - can cause acute liver damage when exposed to large doses of the toxin. Small doses of aflatoxins induce liver cancer, and a characteristic feature of their action is the remoteness (after decades) of the development of the disease.

Chemical factors

The vast majority of food products contain xenobiotics and chemical toxicants as inevitable impurities, such as pesticides and their decomposition products, antibiotics, fungicides, hormones and their metabolites, heavy metals, dioxins, including radionuclides (cesium-137, strontium-90, iodine -131).

Primary pollution with most substances in this group occurs as a result of industrial emissions and improper organization of agricultural production. Penetration into food products occurs through soil and water. Both in the environment and in food products, chemical toxins persist for a long time, passing through all links of the food chain.

The impact of chemical contaminants that can enter food products in doses exceeding the maximum permissible limits is both a general toxic effect and the appearance of specific and long-term effects (allergenic, mutagenic, teratogenic or carcinogenic).

An important group of toxic substances are dioxins and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Dioxins are mostly formed during the combustion of various synthetic substances. PCBs were specially produced for the needs of electrical engineering. Now their production has been sharply reduced, but they are extremely persistent in the environment and continue to circulate in both water and food. These substances are toxic, inhibit the immune and endocrine systems, and a number of other body functions, and also have a carcinogenic effect.

Pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers, animal growth promoters, etc. are widely used in agriculture. Pesticides are inherently toxic and are often found in various food products.

In Russia, the use of pesticides has now significantly decreased, and modern, less toxic and short-lived preparations have begun to be used.

However, in the USSR, pesticides such as DDT and other organochlorine compounds were used in large quantities. Despite the fact that these drugs ceased to be used back in 1988, their effect is still noted on the produced raw materials. A recent study by WHO experts revealed their presence in food, water and breast milk among the population of the Aral Sea region, where pesticides were previously actively used in cotton cultivation.

In the European Union and Norway there is also significant pesticide contamination of water and food. In France, Sweden, Israel, and Spain, significant levels of organochlorine compounds were detected not only in water, soil and food, but also in human milk.

Contamination of meat and meat products with metabolites of hormones used to accelerate the growth of farm animals is very common. When they enter the human body, they disrupt the balance of the endocrine system and can cause changes in the reproductive sphere. Nitrates present in water, soil, and food also have a negative effect on the body.

Toxic substances accumulate in food products in different ways, which depends both on the characteristics of food chains and food production, and on the chemical nature of the toxicant. Contamination of food products with harmful chemicals is presented in Table No. 2.

The toxic effects of chemical factors are very diverse, which is determined by tropism for specific tissues of the body and affinity for certain enzymes. Thus, lead has a tropism for the nervous system, especially at an early age, disrupting the proper development and functions of the brain. Cadmium primarily damages the immune and reproductive systems and causes teratogenic effects. Many xenobiotics and toxicants have carcinogenic properties, including direct ones. The role of individual toxic substances in the development of certain forms of cancer, diseases of the cardiovascular and nervous systems, as well as liver and kidneys has now been determined.

Modern literature discusses the negative effects of chemical toxins in cases where their amount in food products is significantly lower than the level of established hygienic standards. The modifying effect of low-intensity chemical factors has been proven, causing a nonspecific effect on human health. It is based on a systemic disturbance of the body’s homeostasis, as a result of which there is an increase in the number and worsening of the course of almost any disease, regardless of its etiology.

Natural Toxins

This group includes substances of various chemical structures, the presence of which in a food product is determined by nature itself.

Thus, potatoes contain the glycoside solanine, which can cause poisoning. Amygdalin is found in almonds and apricot kernels, and dioscorine is found in yams. In some cases, these substances accumulate in products in significant quantities when storage and/or processing technology is violated.

Interestingly, some natural food toxins are pharmacologically active, and products containing them are used in medicine and in therapeutic nutrition. Thus, the inclusion of potatoes in the diet of patients with peptic ulcers and gastritis is also due to the presence of solanine. Being a glycoside related in structure and properties to cardiac glycosides, solanine improves reparative processes in the stomach wall, normalizes the motor function of the gastrointestinal tract, improves blood circulation and energy supply. Preparations obtained from yam are used to regulate hormonal status due to the presence of dioscorine in its composition, a substance similar in structure to steroid hormones.

However, many natural food toxins do not have therapeutic potential, therefore, foods containing them should be consumed in limited quantities. For example, legumes, especially soybeans, contain protease inhibitors - substances that are beneficial for the plants themselves, accumulate in the seeds and are intended for better preservation of seeds in nature. However, blocking proteolytic enzymes in the gastrointestinal tract leads to insufficient digestion of legume proteins, disruption of the digestive system, and the development of intestinal dysbiosis. The use of high-value soy proteins in human nutrition is possible only after the removal of protease inhibitors from food raw materials. It is the absence of protease inhibitors, as well as indigestible oligosaccharides (stachyose and raffinose), that distinguishes soy protein isolate, which is successfully used in therapeutic and preventive nutrition.

In addition to the harmful food factors described above, mention should be made of the ambiguous effects of some traditional nutrients on human health. A classic example of this is cholesterol, whose vital importance is due to its participation in several metabolic pathways, as well as its role as a structural element of cell membranes. However, under certain conditions, in particular with the development of disorders of lipid metabolism in the liver, it becomes necessary to reduce the dietary intake of cholesterol.

Another example of the negative impact of a nutrient on health is the excessive consumption of sugar and table salt, sodium chloride. Within each group of macronutrients there are features of the use of certain types of proteins, fats, carbohydrates that can worsen the condition of various body systems and contribute to the progression of the pathological process in humans.

The above examples show that even substances that are non-toxic in nature and vitally important can have a negative impact on human health, and this should be taken into account when planning individual and therapeutic nutrition.

Even this brief overview gives an idea of ​​the variety of potentially dangerous factors that may be present in food and affect the health of modern people. Their further growth and the emergence of new toxicants are predicted.

There are currently clear changes in the human population. They are expressed in the fact that the number of vulnerable categories of people, namely the elderly and old, is growing, the number of patients with chronic diseases and immunodeficiency of various origins is increasing.

Given these forecasts, it is clear that human exposure to harmful food factors will increase. Consequently, control, monitoring and creation of a system for preventing food contamination become relevant. The measures currently taken in Europe to ensure food safety are already having a certain effect and should be improved in the future.

Of course, zero risk is impossible. It is necessary to use methods of protection, that is, first of all, strengthening the anti-infective system and the detoxification system.

Inactivation (neutralization) of chemical compounds in the body occurs through a single mechanism, namely, through interaction with proteins of the detoxification system. Most chemical agents, when entering the body, undergo biotransformation, that is, the enzymatic transformation of the original poorly excreted chemical substances into inactive and easily excreted from the body. Biotransformation is a cascade process in which many enzymes and proteins of the body participate simultaneously or alternately. As a rule, biotransformation occurs in three stages: 1st phase - modification (activation), 2nd phase - detoxification, 3rd phase - elimination. Each phase involves specific enzyme systems.

For the successful functioning of the detoxification system, the presence of many substances is required: ascorbates, tocopherols, minerals (for example, sulfur, zinc, copper), vitamins, etc. However, the main condition for its full functioning is a sufficient intake of protein into the body, complete in its amino acid composition. The intense work of detoxification enzymes requires constant replenishment and synthesis of new protein molecules.

Many researchers have found that adequate protein supply practically neutralizes the toxic effects of various toxicants. Thus, in the studies of Academician A. A. Pokrovsky it was shown that the administration of aflatoxin to animals against the background of a complete protein diet led to only minor changes in the activity of individual liver enzymes without disturbing the morphological structure of the organ. When the amount of protein in the diet was insufficient, the administration of aflatoxin led to sharp changes in enzyme activity, pronounced morphological disorders and hepatic cytolysis. A study of the state of the detoxification system in people who are in constant contact with chemical toxicants has shown that detoxification processes increase sharply with the subsidy of complete, high-quality protein. At the same time, the inactivation of free radicals also improves, which is important for radionuclide damage.

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Safety by law

In the modern world there is a variety of harmful food factors and their progressive growth is noted. Systems for controlling and preventing adverse food exposures at the environmental and food production levels are not sufficiently effective. Food safety actions must cover the entire food chain, from production to consumption.

One of the methods of protection at the body level is the activation of the functional detoxification system through nutritional correction of protein supply, which is physiological and effective.

Ensuring the chemical and biological safety of food products against the general background of deteriorating health indicators of the Russian population (decreasing life expectancy, increasing morbidity and deaths associated with diseases of the digestive system, circulatory system, eating disorders and metabolic disorders) is among the priority tasks for the implementation of state policy in the field of healthy nutrition of the population. It is also considered as an important area of ​​ensuring food security. This was the basis for major changes in the field of legal regulation of food quality: Federal Law No. 29-FZ “On the quality and safety of food products” (dated January 2, 2000) has been in force in the Russian Federation for more than ten years; On July 1, 2003, Federal Law No. 184-FZ “On Technical Regulation” (dated December 27, 2002) came into force.

These acts introduced mandatory requirements for products, including the processes of their production, operation, storage, transportation, sales and disposal. Food safety is represented as a state of reasonable confidence that food products, under normal conditions of use, are not harmful and do not pose a risk to the health of present and future generations. // P D

Table No. 1. Examples of infectious diseases often associated with specific foods

Product	Foodborne illnesses
Raw milk	Brucellosis, campylobacteriosis, enterohemorrhagic E.coli infection, salmonellosis
Raw milk cottage cheese	Listeriosis, Staphylococcus aureus intoxication, salmonellosis, brucellosis
Meat and meat products	Campillobacteriosis, infection with enterohemorrhagic E.coli, salmonellosis, listeriosis, Staphylococcus aureus intoxication, botulism, taeniasis, trichinosis
Egg and egg products	Salmonellosis
Fish and seafood	Salmonellosis, viral hepatitis A, histamine intoxication
Rice, pasta and other grain products	Bacillus cereus intoxication, Staphylococcus aureus intoxication
Fruits vegetables	Shigellosis, amoebiasis
Chocolate	Salmonellosis

Table No. 2. Presence of some toxicants in food products

Table No. 3. Some natural toxins and products containing them

Risk of exposure. This is understood as the responsibility, regardless of guilt, of those who introduce or release harmful substances into water or influence water in such a way that its physical, chemical or biological properties change.[...]

Risk is a measure of the likelihood and magnitude of adverse impacts, including injury, illness, and environmental or economic loss, resulting from an existing hazard. In the context of contaminated soil, these hazards can be assumed to be chemical, biological or physical materials (contaminants). Hazard is not the same as risk, but can be considered a source of risk.[...]

Biological risk factors include genetic and acquired characteristics of the human body during ontogenesis. Some diseases are known to be more common in certain national and ethnic groups. There is a hereditary predisposition to hypertension, peptic ulcers, diabetes mellitus and other diseases. Obesity is a serious risk factor for the occurrence and course of many diseases, including diabetes mellitus and coronary heart disease. The existence of foci of chronic infection in the body (for example, chronic tonsillitis) can contribute to the disease of rheumatism.[...]

So, the risk of negative consequences is especially high in the shallow Northern Caspian Sea, and it is of exceptional importance for the formation of unique biological resources. The intensity of the vertical exchange of water columns here leads to the fact that pollution spreads throughout the entire reservoir, enters bottom sediments and is included in the cycle of substances, becoming a source of secondary water pollution. An international project called the “Caspian Environmental Program” will accumulate all the positive experience and international assistance to solve the problems of the Caspian Sea (by right an object of global importance). A similar approach and coordination of countries’ actions should be developed when developing the shelves of the Barents Sea and Sakhalin, the Baltic and North Seas, and the sooner the better.[...]

Risk factor is a general name for factors that are not the direct cause of a certain disease, but increase the likelihood of its occurrence. These include conditions and lifestyle features, as well as congenital or acquired properties of the body. They increase the likelihood of an individual developing a disease and (or) can adversely affect the course and prognosis of an existing disease. Typically, biological, environmental and social risk factors are distinguished (Table 23). If factors that are the direct cause of the disease are added to risk factors, then together they are called health factors. They have a similar classification.[...]

Risk calculations require scientific data from medical and biological research on the impact of harmful factors on the biosphere, statistical materials on equipment failures, operator errors, violations of regulations, accidents, expert data on equipment, technology and products obtained in the industry from the point of view of their technogenic impact. All this taken together will make it possible to form a scientific and regulatory framework for the industry for a quantitative and probabilistic analysis of the risk of operating production facilities. The organization of these works should also belong to the Gazprom Concern, or a special Scientific Center within its structure. Another important task of Gazprom should be to organize the creation of comprehensive monitoring of the nature of the environment, including the geological one.[...]

Tritium is the most important biologically significant radionuclide. In modern literature devoted to risk assessments from radiation exposure, the term “tritium problem” is increasingly used. Being an isotope of hydrogen, tritium is part of many organic compounds, including biologically important ones. Its radioactive beta decay leads to disruption of molecular structures and intermolecular bonds under the influence of its own beta radiation, as well as as a result of the transformation of tritium into a helium isotope. Under natural conditions, the source of continuous synthesis of tritium in the atmosphere is nuclear reactions under the influence of cosmic radiation on the nuclei of atoms of chemical elements that form the atmosphere. Tritium occurs in the atmosphere in the form of tritium oxide (TTO), molecular hydrogen (HT) and methane (CH3T). Before 1954, there was approximately 2 kg of naturally occurring tritium on Earth (approximately 666 PBq), of which 10 g remains in the atmosphere, 13 g is in groundwater, and the rest ends up in the oceans. The first thermonuclear explosion of a hydrogen bomb (March 1954) sharply increased the concentration of tritium in rainwater falling in the northern hemisphere, and then its specific activity continued to increase in all environmental environments until the cessation of thermonuclear weapons testing in 1962. During underground nuclear explosions in A significant amount of tritium is also released into the environment.[...]

Comprehensive risk assessment (CRA) models are based on the recognition that there are quantitatively distinct categories of risk associated with environmental issues. Most models use the classification adopted by the Dutch government, which defines three categories of risk. The first concerns damage to biological systems in general and people in particular. The second category includes risks that aesthetically destroy the environment but may not cause harm to biological systems. The last category is risk, which includes damage to the fundamental systems of the planet.[...]

Of all the possible types of risk caused by the operation of pipelines (social, environmental, economic), we will limit ourselves to considering the most important - social, in the analysis of which the potential recipients are people living and working in the territory adjacent to the route of the pipeline in question. Individual risk at point M, denoted Yam, is interpreted as the probability of damage of a certain type (death or injury of varying severity) at this point during the year for a person as a representative of a biological species.[...]

Along with the advantages of the biological method, it is necessary to keep in mind some risk factors. Biological weed control, unlike physical, chemical or agricultural methods, cannot be limited to one area. The same plants in the same zone can be weeds, beneficial to humans, or wild. In addition, there is a potential risk of changing host specificity (due to adaptation or mutation).[...]

In addition to the above-mentioned medical and biological assessments of safety and environmental risk, there are technical safety criteria developed on the basis of statistics of severe man-made accidents. Their quantification is based on the method of two-dimensional frequency-consequence diagrams and on the use of a space-time risk function that characterizes the risk field around a technical source.[...]

However, despite advances in understanding the biological basis of aging, modern geriatrics does not yet have methods and means of influencing normal physiological processes that fade with age. Therefore, the role of geriatrics is limited to the treatment of diseases that occur in old and senile age and the exclusion (if possible) of risk factors that cause premature aging.[...]

Technical regulations, taking into account the degree of risk of harm, establish the minimum necessary requirements to ensure various types of safety: radiation, biological, explosion safety, mechanical, fire, industrial, thermal, chemical, electrical, nuclear and radiation, as well as electromagnetic compatibility of the operation of devices and equipment, unity measurements. The mandatory requirements for the objects of regulation contained in technical regulations are comprehensive and have direct effect on the territory of the Russian Federation. Depending on the type of safety, technical regulations are divided into general and special, and documents in the field of standardization are advisory in nature. [...]

Above, in Chapter IV, we discussed the history of biomedical research on humans until the beginning of the 20th century. The attention to these studies from bioethicists is explained by the fact that the risk accompanying their conduct is special - it is a risk to a person’s health, his physical and mental state, and, ultimately, to his life itself. The problem of the risk to which subjects are exposed in biomedical research can be called one of the main ethical and legal problems associated with them. There are, however, a number of other issues related to conducting such research. Some of them will also be discussed in this chapter.[...]

In other areas not protected by law, biological diversity can be preserved due to the low density of the local population and, accordingly, the low degree of use of natural resources. Border areas, such as the Meyaedu Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea, often exhibit true wilderness as they are uninhabited and unused. Mountain areas, due to inaccessibility, also often remain unused. These areas, along with river basins, are protected by the government because they depend on them for water supply and flood protection. At the same time, they are a refuge for natural communities. Conversely, desert communities may have lower risk than other unprotected communities because they are far from dense settlements and human activity.[...]

Despite the importance of the above, the main factor of risk and danger for the life of modern humanity on Earth is the decrease in biological diversity (destruction of species of living beings), leading to loss of stability and destruction of natural ecosystems at all levels.[...]

It is very difficult to accustom worms to new food. This is due to their biological feature, which is that the worms are programmed to digest food immediately after birth and then cannot get used to other food. Therefore, buying technological worms is always a risk for the buyer. Colonization of new substrates is possible only with cocoons of worms. Hatched worms are configured to process this particular type of food.[...]

Despite the difficulties, the development of approaches to assessing environmental risk when justifying projects and business activities continues. Thus, American specialists analyzed 39 large federal projects. Although all of them addressed the issue of public health, few addressed them directly and comprehensively. Others did not specifically address them, and in 14 projects they were not considered at all. The authors of the projects see environmental dangers in cases where there is a deliberate change in the environmental situation (for example, spraying pesticides) or a possible chemical accident. But they usually miss the chronic exposure of people to low doses of harmful substances; No analysis is made of harmful results that may occur after the engineering object has served its useful life. Most projects assess environmental risks in quantitative terms only approximately, and in some cases only in qualitative terms (for example, “chemical or mechanical impact”); the impact of biological agents is underestimated.[...]

We have shown only methodological approaches to determining certain types of environmental risk. The development of specific techniques is associated with serious difficulties in determining the distribution function of a system of random variables. The problem can be solved only with the active participation of biological specialists and the production of sufficiently large and representative statistical material.[...]

Ecosystems and security of Russia. The modern concept of safety includes environmental risk. People's life expectancy is often determined by the state of nature more than by the country's defense system. The destruction of nature occurs before the eyes of one generation as quickly and unexpectedly as milk runs away on fire. Nature can “escape” from humans only once, and this has caused close attention to the living environment of humans, the diversity of nature, and especially biological diversity. Humanity has recently begun to realize that it is as mortal as the individual, and is now striving to ensure the indefinite existence of generations in an evolving biosphere. The world appears to a person differently than before. However, simply believing in nature is not enough; you need to know its laws and understand how to follow them.[...]

PUFAs are capable of being involved in the arachidonic acid cascade, forming compounds that differ in their biological effects from the products of oxidative metabolism of arachidonic acid. It is well known that consumption of foods enriched with 0-3 PUFAs helps reduce the risk of cardiovascular and inflammatory diseases. Recently, these acids have received much attention from researchers as modulators of the immune system (Hubbard N.E. et al., 1994; Somers, Erickson, 1994). The biological effect of 0)3 series PUFAs was studied mainly using the example of eicosapentaenoic (EPA) and docosahexaenoic (DHA) acids. Their oxidation in various tissues and their effect on biochemical processes, including the arachidonic acid cascade, have been quite well studied (for example, see Weber, Sellmayer, 1990).[...]

The basis of the “mathematical” chapter is the consideration of principles that, at first glance, are in no way related to biological specifics. Within the framework of a qualitative analysis of differential equations, the behavior of a nonlinear dynamic system under conditions of changing “ambient conditions” is described. As the model becomes more complex and the nonlinearity of the equations increases, properties appear in its behavior that can be likened to individual biological characteristics. This happens at the moment when the model ceases to react proportionally to disturbing influences, when autonomy appears in its behavior. When presenting mathematical principles for modeling the properties of complex systems, there was a risk of seeming boring and incomprehensible to a wide range of biologists who do not know mathematical methods. Therefore, when writing this section, if possible, we avoided mathematical formalism and tried to fill it with qualitative reasoning.[...]

In terms of the issues under consideration, the possibilities of restoring ecosystems and reducing ecopathogenic risks to human health, especially at the regional levels, are associated not only with regulating the entry of toxic compounds into ecosystems (especially aquatic ones), but with maintaining the conservatism of wave (and therefore genetic) information, as well as with maintaining the energetic activity of biological objects, blocking the imposition of foreign information. Considering that the synchronization of information exchange processes in ecosystems is carried out by electromagnetic fields of low-frequency wavelength ranges, and their energization by static fields, and the main sources of these fields are formed by the atmosphere and lithosphere of the Earth, control capabilities are associated with the regulation of atmospheric and lithospheric processes that form these fields. Based on the fact that the main sources of these fields are magnetic dipole structures of the atmosphere and lithosphere, their artificial creation can be considered as a tool for regulating ecosystems.[...]

The peculiarity of this legal regime, which distinguishes it from the legal regimes of other zones of increased environmental risk, is that within the former, internal zones with their own special regime are established. The qualifying feature in this case is the density of soil contamination with radionuclides; in other cases, the criterion may be the concentration of harmful substances of chemical or biological origin in soil or water, or the degree of distribution of pathogens. [...]

Studies by US specialists have shown that IRGs are not so harmless and are a significant factor in radiation risk. Their impact on biological organisms is determined by membrane effects.[...]

This paper formulates only general provisions on one of the possible ways to determine environmental risk. The development of practical methods requires a careful selection of indicators and a comprehensive justification of their values, beyond which a zone of tense ecological situation or a so-called environmentally problematic zone (according to the terminology adopted by N.F. Reimers), a zone of environmental disaster or a zone of environmental disasters arises. According to N.F. Reimers, in such zones the rate of anthropogenic disturbances exceeds the rate of self-healing of nature and there is a threat of radical, but still reversible changes in natural systems. In zones of environmental disaster, there is an increasingly difficult to reversible replacement of productive ecosystems with less productive ones, human health indicators are deteriorating, etc., in zones of environmental disasters, by its own definition, there is an irreversible or very difficult to reversible transition to a complete loss of biological productivity, the emergence of a danger to life, health, human reproductive ability. It should be noted that the characteristics of zones of environmental disasters and catastrophes do not contradict the official definitions of these zones contained in the Law on Environmental Protection, although the names of the zones do not coincide.[...]

Environmental quality control is carried out by comparing the results of monitoring the state of natural spheres and biological communities with the quality standards established for them. Deterioration in the quality of an object is considered as a sign of the emergence of a risk of possible damage.[...]

The effect of ionizing radiation on the human body can be acute (radiation sickness) or manifest itself in the form of an increased risk of long-term consequences, usually cancer and genetic. The acute effects of ionizing radiation are classified as deterministic effects of radiation - biological effects of radiation, for which the existence of a threshold is assumed, above which the severity of the effect depends on the dose. Long-term consequences are referred to as stochastic consequences of radiation - harmful biological effects of radiation that do not have a dose threshold. It is assumed that the likelihood of these effects occurring is proportional to the dose, and the severity of their manifestation is independent of the dose.[...]

Along with immediate acute manifestations of the consequences of exposure to ionizing radiation, the body accumulates irreversible biological defects, the most dangerous of which are defects in the genetic apparatus. An increase in biological damage of this kind is manifested in an increased risk of cancer and genetic diseases. In the case of exposure of large groups of people, this risk can be recorded in the form of an increase in the incidence of cancer and hereditary disorders.[...]

Currently, the rule of obtaining informed consent from patients and those involved in participating in clinical trials or biomedical research has become a generally accepted norm. The Constitution of the Russian Federation in Chapter 2, Article 21 contains the following provision: “No one can be subjected to medical, scientific or other tests without voluntary consent.” In the “Fundamentals of the Legislation of the Russian Federation on the Protection of Citizens’ Health” this provision is specified in Articles 43 and 32. Article 43 states: “Any biomedical research involving a person as an object can be carried out only after obtaining the written consent of the citizen. A citizen cannot be forced to participate in biomedical research. When obtaining consent for biomedical research, a citizen must be provided with information about the purposes, methods, side effects, possible risks, duration and expected results of the study. A citizen has the right to refuse to participate in the study at any stage.”[...]

Comparison of this list with the expert opinions given above shows that ordinary people and experts assess the importance of a particular environmental risk differently. Thus, a public opinion poll did not reveal increased concern about global climate change, the effects of radioactive gas (radon), or the decline in biological diversity. Experts and non-experts differ in their assessments of the severity of the risk posed by the ever-increasing number of hazardous waste disposal sites. Such differences are partly due to differences in the awareness of experts and ordinary people, but special studies have also revealed a number of other reasons. It turned out that the factors and mechanisms of risk perception, which are discussed in Chapter 3 of this textbook, are very significant.[...]

In another concept (G.A. Kozhevnikov and V.V. Stanchinsky), nature is presented as a certain clear structure, characterized by interdependence between its constituent biological components and relative balance, and humanity was considered as something alien to harmonious and primordially existing natural systems. Adherents of this concept were deeply concerned that civilization was rapidly destroying the balance in natural systems and risked destroying itself.[...]

This is one of the new, but extremely relevant areas of legal environmental science and legislation. The formation of this group of legal norms was caused by the rapid development of biological and medical research at the end of the 20th century. and the results they achieved. This has made it possible to widely use the achievements of genetics in the production of agricultural products, the food and pharmaceutical industries thanks to genetically modified plants, animals and microorganisms, in the use of transgenic organisms to reduce chemical loads on the environment, as well as in medicine for the purpose of genetic therapy. The scale of this activity is increasing: over the past 15 years, 25 thousand transgenic plants have been tested, intended for use in agricultural production and obtained with predetermined qualities (40% resistant to viruses, 25% to insecticides, 25% to herbicides). Among them are soybeans, corn, potatoes, and cotton. By 2010, the market for transgenic grains is projected to be worth US$25 billion. This simultaneously raises concerns among specialists and the public in connection with uncontrollable and unpredictable risks of the impact of genetically modified organisms on the environment, on the genetic structure of humans, and their biosafety. That is why in the legislation of different countries, including Russia, efforts are being made to establish a system of legal measures that can create a barrier to the occurrence of these negative consequences.[...]

Of course, the modern practice of assessing the environmental friendliness of non-commercial substances in drilling is methodologically imperfect and, as a result, is not suitable for justifying the level of environmental risk of using non-commercial substances in drilling. It is important to emphasize that modern environmental and hygienic standardization is incorrect due to ignoring not only the specifics of drilling, but also a number of other factors, in particular, the effect of biological accumulation of pollutants in trophic chains, their chemical accumulation in adjacent environments, the possible transformation of migrating substances into more toxic ones forms, etc.[...]

Assessing the likelihood of environmental hazard is necessary for industrial waste storage sites, transport of flammable and explosive goods, chemical and metallurgical enterprises. Regulatory risk assessment methods are necessary for design, construction, selection of transportation methods, energy supply and production technology. Within the framework of the concept of environmental risk, it is necessary to take into account the degree of environmental danger in the event of industrial accidents and disasters that may occur with the release of hazardous chemical, radioactive or biological substances.[...]

All this indicates a high probability of the emergence of numerous and diverse factors that have a total impact on nature, society and humans, causing a real increase in the risk of the existence of the latter as a biological species. [...]

In accordance with the main provisions of modern original humanistic concepts (preventive cascade scheme of changes in professional health, quality of life, homeostatic potential, biological age and longevity, level of acceptable risk, etc.), the dictionary-reference book contains for the first time a database in relation to anthropogenic aspects of ecology , starting with information about the biological environment, geographical and climatic conditions of human existence and ending with a description of the main occupational diseases caused by exposure to unfavorable environmental factors, as well as processes, means of activity and parameters of habitability in the workplace. [...]

At the end of 1998, LLC LUKOIL-Nizhnevolzhskneft, for the first time in the country, purchased an oil sludge processing plant - SEPS MK-1V, worth about $ 2 million. Its main purpose is to eliminate the environmental risk of an accidental spill of oil sludge ending up in the river. Bear or accidental fire. The oil sludge processing process is unprofitable for LLC LUKOIL-Nizhnevolzhskneft. In August 1999, the SEPS MK-IV oil sludge processing equipment complex was put into commercial operation. In 2000, this installation processed 32,677.0 tons of oil sludge out of the available 150,000.0 tons. Work is underway to carry out technical and biological reclamation in this area. This work is designed for 4-5 years. Costs will amount to more than 30 million rubles[...]

The pharmaceutical market is currently extremely diverse. It offers remedies not only for sick people, but also for healthy people, not only for treating diseases, but also for their prevention, improving the health of the population, and reducing the risk of the negative impact of adverse environmental factors on humans. Medical practice shows that biologically active substances of plant and animal origin in the form of traditional drugs have a great advantage over synthetic and monocomponent drugs. They have a wider complex of related natural compounds inherent in a given plant or animal object, affecting the body much more mildly and for a longer period of time. [...]

The volume of pollutants in air, water and soil is constantly growing. The natural environment is changing irreversibly and dangerously. Industrial facilities are sources of emissions of sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxides into the atmosphere and cause an increased risk of so-called acid rain. The natural environment not only changes itself, but also changes a large variety of biological species (biocenoses).[...]

Relatively recently, in the mid-1980s, a new sociological theory of modern society appeared, authored by the German scientist Ulrich Beck. According to this theory, in the last third of the 20th century. humanity has entered a new phase of its development, which should be called risk society. Risk society is a post-industrial formation; it differs from industrial society in a number of fundamental features. The main difference is that if an industrial society is characterized by the distribution of benefits, then a risk society is characterized by the distribution of dangers and the risks caused by them. The evolution of industrial society was accompanied by the emergence of more and more new factors that improve people's lives (increasing agricultural yields, automation of production processes, development of means of transport and communications, progress in medicine and pharmacology, etc.). In other words, something that, on the whole, brought good things arose and was distributed among members of society. In a risk society, a different situation arises: as it develops, more and more bad things appear, and this bad is distributed among people. Declining biological diversity, air and water pollution with chemicals, a constant increase in the number of toxicants entering the environment, depletion of the ozone layer, and the trend towards climate change - all this has led and continues to lead to the creation of various hazards and risks. Thus, in an industrial society, mainly positive achievements were produced and distributed, and in a risk society, which “grows” into an industrial society, the negative consequences of the development of the latter are accumulated and distributed among members.[...]

According to the International System of Units, 1 Sv = 100 rem. The equivalent dose is a basic quantity in radiation protection, as it allows one to assess the risk of harmful biological consequences of irradiation of biological tissue with various types of radiation, regardless of their type or energy.[...]

Certain types of wastewater should not be discharged into the sanitary sewer system; Some types of effluents need to be carefully controlled by setting appropriate limits. These effluents can be divided into the following four categories: 1) flammable or explosive effluents; 2) wastewater containing substances that violate the hydraulic capacity of the sewer network; 3) wastewater containing contaminants that pose a danger to human health and the physical condition of the sewer system or disrupt the biological treatment process; 4) wastewater that cannot be treated when passing through treatment facilities and leads to deterioration of the condition of the water source into which it enters. Examples of flammable liquids include gasoline, fuel oil, and solvents. Solids and viscous liquids that cause drain clogs include, but are not limited to, ash, sand, metal shavings, loose debris, grease and oil. The most common cause of sewer clogs is tree roots growing into the sewers. Therefore, they try not to plant certain tree species along sewer lines (these include elm, poplar, willow, sycamore and maple). Another preventive measure comes down to the use of special materials and methods of work when installing butt joints (if the collectors are laid where there is a risk of root germination).[...]

Although the Arctic is not a single region in terms of geography, population density, land use or political characteristics, there are many common features of climate, ecosystems and socio-cultural elements that separate the Arctic from other regions of the world. Low temperatures, permafrost regions, slow decay of pollutants, and a wide variety of conditions that change every year are all typical characteristics of the Arctic region. Short food chains, low rates of regeneration, and significant risk of irreversible negative impacts on ecosystems characterize Arctic biological systems. Daily dependence on natural resources, as well as widespread use of land resources, are important social and economic parameters in the Arctic.

In the course of their life, microorganisms are in various relationships with each other and with other organisms. Over the course of long evolution, these relationships developed in accordance with the general biological law of symbiosis (cohabitation) of living beings. In nature, relationships between microbes and other organisms exist in the form of various forms of symbiosis, metabiosis and antagonism.

Commensalism is a form of symbiosis in which one organism lives and develops at the expense of another without harming it. For example, E. coli, some types of staphylococci, streptococci and other microbes live on the surface or in the cavities of humans and animals.

Mutualism is a cohabitation in which both organisms receive mutual benefits without causing harm to each other, for example the cohabitation of nodule bacteria with leguminous plants.

Metabiosis is the relationship between microorganisms in which, in the process of sequential development of some microbes, favorable conditions are created for the life of others. Thus, many saprophytes are able to convert food proteins into peptones, polypeptides and amino acids during feeding. Other microbes that are not able to use proteins metabolize these substances well. The first create food products for the second, the waste products of the second can serve as food for the third, etc.

Metabiosis relationships contribute to the rapid spoilage of pickled and salted vegetables and fermented milk products if they are stored open. Lactic acid bacteria produce lactic acid, which is consumed by mold fungi and thus prepares a substrate for putrefactive bacteria.

Yeast, producing alcohol when developing in environments containing sugar, such as fruit juices, prepares the conditions for acetic acid bacteria, after which mold fungi can use this substrate, converting acetic acid into carbon dioxide and water.

Metabiosis explains the rapid mineralization of all organic substances entering the soil. The principle of metabiosis underlies the entire cycle of substances in nature.

Antagonism is a relationship in which co-living species of microorganisms have an inhibitory effect on each other, that is, one type of microbe interferes with the growth of another, delaying its development, or causes complete death. The phenomenon of antagonism was first described by the Russian scientist I. I. Mechnikov at the end of the 19th century.

The mechanism for suppressing cohabiting microbes can be different: rapid consumption of nutrients or oxygen from the substrate by one of the microbes; release of acids and other metabolic products into the substrate, complicating the development of other microorganisms or making it completely impossible.

I. I. Mechnikov proposed using lactic acid bacteria to combat putrefactive bacteria that live in the human intestine and constantly poison it with the products of their vital activity.

In natural habitats and various substrates, one or another type of relationship between microorganisms is established not in isolation from other types, but in conjunction with them, forming complex systems of influences and dependencies.

The competitiveness in antagonistic relationships of some microorganisms is closely dependent on their ability to produce and release into the environment special substances that strongly inhibit other species. Such substances are called antibiotics (anti - against, bios - life). Quite a lot of these substances are known. Those that turned out to be practically harmless to humans, but very bactericidal (killing bacteria), are widely used in medicine and in animal husbandry as therapeutic and stimulating agents. Some of them have a non-bactericidal, bacteriostatic effect (stop the development of bacteria). A characteristic property of antibiotics is their selectivity, which means that each of them acts only on a specific group of microorganisms. There are also those whose spectrum of action is quite wide.

Many microorganisms develop drug resistance when exposed to large doses of antibiotics over a long period of time. Antibiotics are low-resistant substances, their activity is reduced by heat, acids, light and other factors.

Penicillin is an antibacterial substance secreted by mold fungi from the penicillium group. Streptococci, staphylococci and pneumococci are most sensitive to penicillin. Rod-shaped forms are more stable. Penicillin resistance of some bacteria is explained by the fact that they produce the enzyme penicillinase, which destroys this antibiotic.

Streptomycin is produced by actinomycetes. It has the property of inhibiting the growth of many microorganisms. It is used in the treatment of acute brucellosis, intestinal diseases, etc.

Gramicidin is produced by the soil bacillus brevis. It acts on staphylococci, streptococci, pneumococci, causative agents of gas gangrene, dysentery, typhoid fever, as well as the anthrax bacillus.

Biomycin is produced by actinomycetes. Inhibits the growth of many bacteria. Antibiotics produced by microorganisms also include tetracyclines (a group of substances with similar properties) and other compounds.

Antibiotic substances are mainly used for medicinal purposes. They have not been widely used to suppress undesirable microbiological processes in food products, since the spectrum of action of each of them is relatively narrow, and the microflora that contaminates food products is very diverse. In addition, their widespread use in storage practice could very quickly lead to their loss of medicinal value due to the inevitable emergence of varieties of microbes resistant to them.

Substances similar in their action to antibiotics can also be produced by higher organisms - animals and plants. Such substances, discovered by the Soviet researcher B.P. Tokin, were called phytoncides.

Phytoncides are secreted by plants and have a detrimental effect on bacteria and fungi. Phytoncides of onion, garlic, aloe, nettle, bird cherry leaves, and juniper are especially bactericidal. Phytoncides obtained from onions in the form of crystalline powder, in a dilution of 1:40,000, instantly kill diphtheria bacteria. Phytoncides are volatile substances and affect microflora from a distance. Phytoncides are characterized by less pronounced specificity of action compared to antibiotics of microbial origin.

Among substances of animal origin that have antibiotic properties, lysozyme and erythrin are known.

Lysozyme is a protein with alkaline properties. It is found in many substances and products of animal origin - in milk, chicken egg white. It is also found in saliva, tears, blood serum, fish eggs, and leukocytes. Lysozyme is destructive to many bacteria. It simultaneously causes the dissolution of microbial cells.

Erythrin is obtained from red blood cells of animal blood. It has bacteriostatic properties against the causative agent of diphtheria, staphylococci, streptococci.

One of the important biological factors influencing microbes is bacteriophagy, i.e. the ability of a bacteriophage to lyse a microbial cell, leading to its death.

Phages are widespread in nature. They can be found in bacteria-contaminated ponds, rivers, lakes, sewage, and other environments. Phages are used in medicine and veterinary medicine for the prevention and treatment of gastrointestinal diseases, and in laboratories to determine the type of bacteria. In the dairy industry and in enterprises that produce antibiotics, the bacteriophage causes harm: it reduces the activity of lactic acid starters and antibiotics.

Human biological factors

Historically, human development could not occur in isolation from the surrounding reality. This process was influenced by biological factors of human evolution, the same as they influenced the rest of living nature. However, research shows that biological factors alone are clearly not enough for anthropogenesis; social factors were also required.

The early stages of human evolution are characterized by the predominance of biological factors. Natural selection of individuals with better adaptability to constantly changing environmental conditions was of decisive importance.

There was also a selection of individuals who showed the ability to make primitive tools, without which obtaining food and protecting themselves from enemies became problematic.

At later stages, selection was already carried out on the basis of gregariousness and associated forms of communication. In the environment, only groups of individuals could continue to exist that could, through joint efforts, withstand surprises and unfavorable factors.

At certain stages, the biological factors of human evolution included individual selection, which was based on the selective death of individual individuals and contributed to the formation of human morphophysiological characteristics, such as upright posture, a large brain, and a developed hand.

Man was already different from the surrounding animal world in that he could speak, developed thinking and the ability to work. This is how modern man was formed in the process of anthropogenesis.

The biological factors of the historical-revolutionary process of human formation were exactly the same for all living nature. They became especially important in the early stages of human development. Charles Darwin wrote a lot about the role of biological factors for human evolution.

Biological factors in human evolution have created the preconditions for the occurrence of hereditary changes in him, which determine, for example, eye and hair color, height, and the body’s resistance to environmental influences.

Man's dependence on nature was especially felt in the early stages of his evolution. Only individuals who were characterized by endurance, physical strength, dexterity, intelligence and other useful qualities could survive and leave offspring to continue the family line.

The beginning of the improvement of tools significantly reduced the role of biological evolution. Technogenic evolution has forced man not to wait, as they say, for alms from nature. He no longer adapted painfully and slowly, but he consciously changed the surrounding nature itself and forced it to satisfy his needs. To do this, man used powerful tools.

Nevertheless, the biological factors of human evolution have not completely lost their influence on the animal world in general, and on humans in particular. Nature is still the reason for the ongoing evolution of man.

This is confirmed by such moments as changes in a person’s physique, his average height and muscle mass, which occur in people of different eras. It’s just that biological evolution, due to the long periods of time, makes minor changes little noticeable. The human lifespan simply does not allow for all this to be replaced.

Biological environmental factors

In addition to physical and chemical factors, biological factors also influence the life activity of microorganisms. These include various relationships between living beings that arise in natural conditions and are determined by the presence of various species. Moreover, the nature of the relationship depends on the characteristics of individual organisms in microbial communities. In food products contaminated with various microorganisms, phenomena of antagonism, symbiosis, etc. are observed.

Antagonism

Antagonism in microbes is the inhibitory effect of the waste products of one microorganism on another. In the struggle for nutrients, oxygen and other conditions of existence, microorganisms develop a whole arsenal of means of defense and attack on other microorganisms. Some try to take over the environment and suppress competitors by rapid reproduction, others produce toxic metabolic products to suppress the rest of the microflora, etc.

In some microorganisms, the protective function has received exceptional development. At the same time, the chemical means of protection were not just metabolic waste, but specially synthesized compounds of great strength. An example of antagonism is the formation by some microbes of special substances - antibiotics, the action of which is directed against certain groups of organisms. Depending on the effect produced, the antagonistic interaction can either inhibit bacterial growth (bacteriostatic effect) or kill bacterial cells (bactericidal effect).

Symbiosis

Symbiosis is the coexistence of organisms of two different species in close contact, in which one benefits the other. There are many such examples: the symbiosis of algae and fungus in lichens, bacteria with higher plants in the root nodules of legumes, fungi with higher plants. A known form of symbiosis between bacteria and animals is when cellulose-decomposing microorganisms live in the rumen of ruminants.

A type of symbiosis is metabiosis - such a relationship between organisms when the waste products of one partner create the necessary conditions for the development of the other. For example, putrefactive microbes activate the activity of nitrifying bacteria. Aerobes, absorbing oxygen, enable anaerobes to develop.

Sometimes the metabolic products of some microorganisms serve as nutrients for others. A typical example of symbiosis is kefir grains.

Lactic acid bacteria, acidifying the environment, create favorable conditions for the development of yeast. Yeast, in turn, enriches the environment with nitrogenous substances and vitamins necessary for bacteria.

Synergism is the friendly action of two or more types of microorganisms, for example, the joint synthesis of certain substances. Thus, Azotobacter in the presence of Bacillus mycoides produces one and a half times more growth stimulator heteroauxin than in pure culture.

Biological factors of anthropogenesis

The concept of “anthropogenesis” (anthroposociogenesis) denotes the general course of processes of the evolutionary-historical development of a person’s physical image, the initial formation of his speech, work activity and society. The science of anthropology studies problems of anthropogenesis. Without the influence of biological as well as social factors, anthropogenesis would have been impossible. Biological factors (the driving force of evolution) are common to both humans and the rest of living nature. They also include natural selection and hereditary variability. The importance of biological factors for human evolution was revealed by Charles Darwin. These factors played a particularly important role at the early stage of human evolution. The resulting hereditary changes determined, in particular, a person’s height, the color of his eyes and hair, and resistance to the influence of external circumstances. At the early stage of evolution, man was highly dependent on natural factors. The one who survived and left offspring in such circumstances was the one who had hereditary characteristics useful for the given conditions.

Darwin showed that the main factors in the evolution of the organic world, that is, hereditary variability, the struggle for existence and natural selection, are also applicable to human evolution. Thanks to them, the body of the ancient ape underwent a number of morphophysiological changes, as a result of which a vertical gait was developed and the functions of the arms and legs were separated.

To explain anthropogenesis, biological laws alone are not enough. Its qualitative originality was revealed by F. Engels, pointing to social factors: work, social life, consciousness and speech. Labor is the most important factor in human evolution.

Labor begins with the manufacture of tools. This, according to Engels, “is the first fundamental condition of all human life, and to such an extent that in a certain sense we must say: labor created man himself.” The main driving force of anthropogenesis was labor, during which man himself creates tools. The most highly organized animals can use objects as ready-made tools, but are not able to create them. Animals only use the gifts of nature, but humans change it in the process of labor. Animals also change nature, but not intentionally, but only because they are and live in nature. Their impact on nature is negligible compared to the impact of humans on it.

It would be more correct to call the morphological and physiological transformations of our ape-like ancestors anthropomorphoses, since the main factor that caused them - labor - was specific only to human evolution. The emergence of a straight gait was especially important. The size and body weight of the monkeys increased, an S-shaped bend of the spinal column appeared, giving it flexibility, an arched springy foot was formed, the pelvis expanded, the sacrum strengthened, the jaw apparatus became lighter, etc. Upright posture was not established immediately. This was a very long process of selecting hereditary changes useful in working life. It supposedly lasted for millions of years. Biologically, upright walking has brought many complications to humans. It limited the speed of his movement, deprived the sacrum of mobility, which made childbirth difficult; Prolonged standing and carrying heavy objects sometimes leads to flat feet and enlarged veins in the legs. But thanks to upright walking, the hands were freed up for tools. The emergence of upright walking, according to Charles Darwin and then F. Engels, became a decisive step on the path from ape to man. Thanks to upright walking in the ape-like ancestors of humans, the arms were freed from the need to support the body when moving on the ground and acquired the ability for a variety of movements.

At the beginning of the process of human formation, his hand was underdeveloped and could perform only the simplest actions. Individuals with hereditary changes in the upper limbs, useful for labor operations, were predominantly preserved due to natural selection. F. Engels wrote that the hand is not only an organ of labor, but also a product of labor. The difference between the human hand and the hand of great apes is enormous: not a single ape can make even the simplest stone knife with his own hand. It took a very long time for our ape-like ancestors to move from using objects of the natural environment as tools to making them. The most primitive tools ease man’s dependence on the surrounding nature, broaden his horizons, discovering new, unknown properties in natural objects; finally, they are used to further improve tools.

The development of labor activity leads to a weakening of the action of biological laws and an increase in the role of social factors in anthropogenesis.

Social way of life as a factor in human evolution. From the very beginning, work was social, since monkeys lived in herds. F. Engels pointed out that it would be wrong to look for the ancestors of man, the most social creature in nature, among non-social animals. The herd nature of human ape ancestors developed into social behavior under the influence of a special factor. Such a factor was labor, closely related to the transformation of the hand into an organ of labor. Labor contributed to the unity of members of society; they collectively defended themselves from animals, hunted and raised children. The older members of the society taught the younger ones to find natural materials and make tools, taught the techniques of hunting and preserving fire. With the development of the labor process, the benefits of mutual support and mutual assistance became increasingly clear.

The most ancient hunting and fishing tools indicate that our ancestors ate meat at an early stage. Processed and cooked over fire, it reduced the load on the chewing apparatus. The parietal crest, to which powerful chewing teeth are attached in monkeys, lost its biological significance, became useless and gradually disappeared through the process of natural selection; for the same reason, the transition from plant foods to mixed ones led to a shortening of the intestines. The use of fire helped protect against the cold and animals.

The accumulated life experience in knowledge of nature was improved from generation to generation. When living in a society, there were great opportunities for communicating with each other: the joint activities of members of the society necessitated signaling with gestures and sounds. The first words were associated with labor operations and denoted action, work, and the names of objects appeared later. The undeveloped larynx and oral apparatus of human ancestors, as a result of hereditary variability and natural selection, were transformed into organs of articulate human speech. Man, like animals, perceives signals from the surrounding world through direct stimulation of the senses - this is the first signaling system. But a person is able to perceive signals in words - he has a second signaling system. It constitutes a qualitative difference between the higher nervous activity of humans and animals.

The emergence of speech strengthened the communication of our ancestors on the basis of the joint labor process and, in turn, contributed to the development of social relations. The evolution of our ancestors took place under the combined influence of social and biological factors. Natural selection gradually lost its importance in the evolution of human society. All the increasingly complex labor processes of making tools and household items, articulate speech and gestures, and facial expressions contributed to the development of the brain and sense organs.

The development of the brain, thinking, and consciousness stimulated at the same time the improvement of work and speech. The continuity of labor experience across generations was more and more fully realized. Only in society could human thinking achieve such a high development.

If the morphological and physiological characteristics of a person are inherited, then the abilities for collective work activity, thinking and speech have never been inherited and are not transmitted now. These specific qualities historically arose and were improved under the influence of social factors and develop in each person in the process of his individual development only in society thanks to upbringing and education.

So, the driving forces of anthropogenesis were biological factors (hereditary variability, struggle for existence and natural selection) and social factors (work activity, social lifestyle, speech and thinking).

Impact of biological factors

Biological factors are mainly associated with the impact of microorganisms (bacteria and viruses) that enter the natural environment near enterprises producing feed and food additives, yeast, amino acids, and antibiotics. As a result of direct exposure to air polluted by microorganisms, allergic diseases and changes in the immunobiological reactivity of the body can occur. The atmospheric air may also contain a large number of substances of natural origin, represented by mold particles, plant fibers, pollen, and capable of causing allergic reactions in people with hypersensitivity.

Biological factors are the effects of various microorganisms, as well as plants and animals.

Biological factors are the most common and fastest-acting factors. One can point out, for example, the role of bison, whose number previously amounted to tens of millions of heads, in the development of biocenoses of the American prairies. An environmental factor such as interspecific competition also plays a huge role in this process.

Biological risk factors include genetic and acquired characteristics of the human body during ontogenesis. Some diseases are known to be more common in certain national and ethnic groups. There is a hereditary predisposition to hypertension, peptic ulcers, diabetes mellitus and other diseases. Obesity is a serious risk factor for the occurrence and course of many diseases, including diabetes mellitus and coronary heart disease. The existence of foci of chronic infection in the body (for example, chronic tonsillitis) can contribute to the disease of rheumatism.

Biological factors of self-purification of a reservoir include algae, mold and yeast. However, phytoplankton does not always have a positive effect on self-purification processes: in some cases, the massive development of blue-green algae in artificial reservoirs can be considered as a process of self-pollution.

Among the biological factors influencing the development of Azotobacter, soil microorganisms should be noted first of all. They can influence the life activity of Azotobacter in the soil indirectly, by changing, for example, pH or redox conditions, and directly, by producing nutrients and biologically active substances. Thus, the activating influence of cellulose-degrading and butyric acid microorganisms on the development of Azotobacter and its antagonistic relationship with representatives of soil microflora was noted by many Soviet and foreign researchers. The biocenosis of microorganisms that forms under the conditions of a particular soil changes to a large extent under the influence of vegetation cover. And Azotobacter as a member of the biocenosis also depends on this factor. Using the autoradiography method, it was established that when phosphorus-labeled Azotobacter cells are applied to grain seeds, the cells usually concentrate around the growing root system of the seedlings.

One of the biological factors that determine the survival of Leptospira in water is the density and composition of the accompanying microflora. In similar experiments with sterile tap water at pH 7.0 and water temperature 25-27°C, leptospira survived for 30-33 days. Adding extraneous microflora to tap water reduced the survival time of L. icterohaemorrhagiae by almost half. In experiments on preserving the viability of L. icterohaemorrhagiae in long-term lake water stored in laboratory conditions, contaminated with airborne microflora at a concentration of 1 million microbial bodies per 1 ml, leptospira survived for 55 days at 25-32°C. In soil contaminated with the urine of infected animals, leptospires were detected within 15 days.

There is no doubt that biological factors play a large role in changing the salt composition of water. These factors include the overgrowth of water bodies with higher aquatic vegetation. The areas of natural reservoirs occupied by aquatic vegetation are enormous - they amount to hundreds of thousands of hectares. The productivity of barns for many reservoirs is expressed in hundreds of thousands of tons. However, there is extremely little material in the literature that would allow an objective assessment of the importance of aquatic vegetation in the formation of the chemical composition of water in reservoirs.

A certain seasonal renewability of structure in soils is also associated with the influence of biological factors.

The concentration of pesticides in the soil is not constant. Under the influence of physical, chemical and biological factors, their number decreases, and the nature and degree of impact on microorganisms changes accordingly, which must be taken into account in the agroecological assessment of the toxicity of pesticides.

Atmospheric quality is a set of atmospheric properties that determines the degree of impact of physical, chemical and biological factors on people, flora and fauna, as well as on materials, structures and the environment as a whole.

The quality of the atmosphere is understood as the totality of its properties that determine the degree of impact of physical, chemical and biological factors on people, flora and fauna, as well as on materials, structures and the environment as a whole. The quality of the atmosphere depends on its pollution, and the pollution itself can enter it from natural and anthropogenic sources. With the development of civilization, anthropogenic sources are increasingly predominant in atmospheric pollution.

As a result of even a brief consideration of the influence of plant and animal organisms on the process of soil formation, we can conclude that the biological factor is the leading one in soil formation. This has already been noted when considering the general scheme of the soil-forming process. It is leading because it plays a major role in the exchange of substances and energy between soil, plants and animal organisms. Without this exchange, soil cannot be formed. But the result of such an exchange, which led to the formation in the natural environment of soils of different composition and properties, depended on a set of specific soil-forming conditions (or soil-forming factors) that developed in a particular territory.

However, the development of the biosphere does not end with these stages. Currently, “before our eyes, a transition is taking place... from evolution controlled by spontaneous biological factors (the period of biogenesis), to evolution controlled by human consciousness, to the period of noogenesis” (Kamshilov). In other words, we are talking about the gradual transition of the biosphere into a qualitatively new state - the noosphere (Gr. noos - mind and sphaira - ball).

About the maximum permissible load per person. In real conditions, a person is exposed to the combined, complex and combined effects of chemical, physical and biological environmental factors. Combined action refers to the simultaneous action of a number of chemical or biological environmental factors. However, a person can be adversely affected not only by various combinations of chemical substances simultaneously coming from any one environmental object, but also by the influence of one substance penetrating from various objects (water, air, food products). The action of a substance that enters the body simultaneously through different routes is usually called complex. Combined action is understood as the simultaneous influence of chemical, physical and biological factors on the human body.

The generally accepted understanding of soil fertility in our country, according to Acad. V. R. Williams, does not at all fit into the sharply narrowed formula of P. S. Pogrebnyak of “chemical” fertility. Physical and biological factors play an equally important role. But “chemical fertility” itself, if we allow this unfortunate term, is not specified by any methods in P. S. Pogrebnyak’s grid. The composition and character of vegetation are the result of all the numerous factors of fertility, including the influence of humans, and not just the gross chemical composition of the soil or the chemical composition of soil solutions.

In all other cases, the requirements for the quality of wastewater discharged or planned to be discharged into a reservoir (watercourse) are established taking into account the role of dilution, as well as physical, chemical, biological factors of self-purification of the reservoir, if this process is expressed and can be assessed. When determining the conditions for the discharge of wastewater, the water quality of the watercourse (reservoir) above the discharge being examined and the prospects for the development of the facility should be taken into account.

When discussing the problem of raceogenesis, we should dwell on racism. Both in the past and in the present, the basis of racism is distorted ideas about human nature as a result of exaggerating the role of biological factors in his individual and historical development.

Climate determines the flow of radiant energy from the sun, heat and moisture to the earth's surface, resulting in the creation of a certain hydrothermal regime of soils. Consequently, the living conditions of the biological factor of soil formation, as well as the direction and speed of biological and abiotic processes, depend on the climate.

The human body is a biosystem open to the environment, the most important strategic task of which is to maintain homeostasis, which is associated with the normal functional state of its recognizing systems. In relation to biological factors, such a system is the immune system. A decrease in the immunological reactivity of the body due to exposure to a deformed living environment, as well as general reactivity, contributes to the occurrence of purulent-inflammatory processes caused by opportunistic microbes, the possibility of sensitization of the body, the formation of a plasmid bank, mutagenic effects, etc.

Water is a weak ampholyte, and therefore it always contains small amounts of H+ and OH- ions. The active concentration of hydrogen ions in natural and waste waters is usually characterized by the pH value. The result of measuring the pH of water is very important for characterizing ionic equilibria in a solution and biological environmental factors.

In the 19th century the role of philosophy became even greater. Charles Darwin analogized morality with the “common good,” by which he understood the development of the greatest possible number of healthy and strong individuals, with all abilities, to the most perfect degree of development. However, due to the unresolved nature, the problem of human nature has passed into our time, turning into a problem of the relationship between social and biological factors in human development.

Environmental hygiene is a branch of hygienic science that comprehensively studies the general patterns of relationships between the human body and the natural environment, adaptive processes, mechanisms of interaction of the human body at the molecular, subcellular, cellular, organ and population levels with a complex of favorable and unfavorable chemical, physical and biological environmental factors of anthropogenic and natural origin.

The Swiss soil scientist and chemist G. Wigner published the book “Soil and Soil Formation” in 1926, in which the following issues were deeply considered: the patterns of behavior of soil colloids, the phenomena of physicochemical absorption of not only cations, but also anions; the process of soil formation is interpreted as a combination of various types of weathering and, in connection with this, the significance of climate is assessed in a rather multifaceted way. Much space is devoted to the chemistry of humus, but the role of biological factors in the process of soil formation is essentially given very little attention. Literature in Russian is not cited; Gedroits and Glinka are mentioned from translations; Wigner never mentions Dokuchaev and Sibirtsev.

The soil serves as the foundation for the vegetation cover of the earth's land and determines fertility. Soil formation and the development of vegetation are inextricably linked and mutually dependent.

Variability of microorganisms. Variability is one of the most important aspects of the life and development of microorganisms. Heredity, which ensures the constancy of species characteristics, and variability are interconnected dialectical opposites of the process of development of an organism. It was through the change and inheritance of acquired characteristics in the process of evolution that the members of the group of heterotrophs were separated. Microorganisms quickly adapt to changing environmental conditions, changing their metabolism accordingly. A classic example of the adaptation of microorganisms to the effects of external factors is the emergence of forms of pathogenic microorganisms that are resistant to the action of medicinal substances. The variability of microorganisms is the basis for the development of microflora capable of carrying out transformations of organic substances that are not decomposed by the usual microflora of water or soil. Changes in the form and functional characteristics of microorganisms can be caused by the action of physical, chemical or biological factors. Characteristics acquired by microorganisms can only be associated with the living conditions of an individual microorganism and are not inherited.

Biological personality factors

The development process is carried out as the improvement of a person - a biological being. First of all, biological development, and development in general, is determined by the factor of heredity. A brick house cannot be built from stone or bamboo, but a large number of bricks can be used to build a house in many different ways. The biological heritage of each person supplies the raw materials which are then formed in various ways into the human species, the individual, the personality.

A newborn carries within himself a complex of genes not only of his parents, but also of their distant ancestors, that is, he has his own, uniquely rich hereditary fund or a hereditarily predetermined biological program, thanks to which his individual qualities arise and develop. This program is naturally and harmoniously implemented if, on the one hand, the biological processes are based on sufficiently high-quality hereditary factors, and on the other, the external environment provides the growing organism with everything necessary for the implementation of the hereditary principle.

Skills and properties acquired during life are not inherited, science has not identified any special genes for giftedness, however, every born child has a huge arsenal of inclinations, the early development and formation of which depends on the social structure of society, on the conditions of upbringing and education, the cares and efforts of parents and the desires of the smallest person.

Young people getting married should remember that not only external signs and many biochemical characteristics of the body (metabolism, blood groups, etc.), but also some diseases or predisposition to painful conditions are inherited. Therefore, each person needs to have a general understanding of heredity, know his or her pedigree (the health status of relatives, their external features and talents, life expectancy, etc.), and have an idea of ​​the influence of harmful factors (in particular alcohol and smoking) on ​​the development of the intrauterine fetus. All this information can be used for early diagnosis and treatment of hereditary diseases, prevention of congenital malformations.

Traits of biological heritage are complemented by the innate needs of a human being, which include the needs for air, food, water, activity, sleep, safety and freedom from pain. If social experience explains mainly the similar, general traits that a person possesses, then biological heredity largely explains individuality personality, its original difference from other members of society. At the same time, group differences can no longer be explained by biological heredity. Here we are talking about a unique social experience, a unique subculture. Therefore, biological heredity cannot completely create personality, since neither culture nor social experience is transmitted with genes.

Throughout the 19th century, scientists assumed that personality existed as something fully formed inside an egg—like a microscopic homunculus. An individual's personality traits have long been attributed to heredity. Family, ancestors and genes determined whether a person would be a genius, an arrogant braggart, a hardened criminal or a noble knight. But in the first half of the 20th century, it was proven that innate genius does not automatically guarantee that a person will become a great personality. You can have good heredity, but remain a smart useless person.

However, the biological factor must be taken into account, since, firstly, it creates restrictions for social communities (the helplessness of a child, the inability to stay under water for a long time, the presence of biological needs, etc.), and secondly, thanks to the biological factor, endless diversity is created temperaments, characters, abilities that make each human person an individual, i.e. a unique, unique creation.

Heredity manifests itself in the fact that the basic biological characteristics of a person are transmitted to a person (the ability to speak, to work with the hand). With the help of heredity, anatomical and physiological structure, the nature of metabolism, a number of reflexes, and the type of higher nervous activity are transmitted to a person from their parents. The great Russian scientist I.P. Pavlov, in his teaching on the types of higher nervous activity, made the most successful attempt to connect temperament with the characteristics of the human body. He suggested that all traits of temperament depend on the characteristics of higher nervous activity.

Biological harmful factors

Biological hazards are those that originate from living objects. Carriers of biological hazards are all habitats (air, water, soil), flora and fauna, and people themselves.

Biological hazards result in various diseases and injuries of varying severity, including fatal ones.

Biological hazardous and harmful factors are:

Pathogenic microorganisms (bacteria, viruses, fungi, etc.);
- plants and animals.

Bacteria are typical representatives of microorganisms. Bacteria are ubiquitous and resilient. They do not die either in permafrost or in space, and exposure to a dose of radiation lethal to humans is not dangerous for them.

Bacterial diseases are: plague, tuberculosis, meningitis, tetanus, etc.

Viruses are tiny cellular particles consisting of nucleic acid and a protein shell. Viruses are completely dependent on the metabolism of the host cell.

Viral diseases are: smallpox, influenza, measles, mumps, rubella, etc.

Pathogenic fungi cause diseases in plants, animals and humans.

About 700 types of diseases can cause severe and fatal infections.

According to the degree of toxicity, plants are divided into:

Poisonous (white acacia, elderberry, ivy). Potato shoots and seeds are also poisonous due to their solanine content;
- deadly poisonous (henbane, datura, belladonna).

Animals:

Scorpios - the sting of a scorpion is very painful (swelling, chills, and fever);
- mites – cause the disease scabies.

The role of biological factors

Do you think the principles that explain the origin and evolution of animal species apply to explain the origin and evolution of humans? From the perspective of the synthetic theory, the biological factors of the evolution of the organic world - the mutation process, waves of life, genetic drift, isolation, the struggle for existence and natural selection - are also applicable to human evolution. The cooling of the climate and the displacement of forests by steppes determined the transition of the ancestors of great apes to a terrestrial way of life. This fact became the first step on their path to upright walking.

Deficiencies in the speed of movement when walking upright were compensated by the fact that the forelimbs were freed. At the same time, the vertical position of the body made it possible to obtain a larger amount of information. For example, human ancestors could have reacted more timely to the approach of predators. Hands began to be used to make and use various tools. Since the listed adaptations were aimed at increasing survival, it was along this path that the further action of natural selection was carried out. Consequently, biological factors of anthropogenesis contributed to the formation of human morphophysiological characteristics (upright posture, increased brain volume, developed hand).

The role of social factors in anthropogenesis was revealed by F. Engels in his work “The Role of Labor in the Process of Transformation of Ape into Man.” It is logical to arrange the social factors of evolution in the following sequence: joint way of life - thinking - speech - work - social way of life. Human ancestors began to unite in groups to live together and mastered the manufacture of tools. It is the manufacture of tools that is a clear boundary between ape-like ancestors and humans. In the struggle for existence, groups of individuals began to gain an advantage, which together could withstand unfavorable environmental conditions. Thus, the social factors of anthropogenesis were aimed at improving relations between people within a group.

The evolution of the hand after being freed from the function of support went in the direction of its improvement for work activity. This fact is reflected in the manufacture of various tools. This was noted when studying the fossil remains of Homo habilis.

The structure of the bones of the hand of Homo habilis indicates a well-developed grasping ability of the upper limb. The nail phalanges have become short and flat, which once again emphasizes the active use of the brush. Extended phalanges of the fingers are evidence of heavy physical work. In addition, the hand has become the leading human organ in making contacts at a distance using various objects.

The use of manufactured hunting tools significantly increased the efficiency of this process. Along with plant foods, people began to widely include more high-calorie foods of animal origin in their diet. Cooking over fire reduced the stress on the masticatory apparatus and digestive system. As a result, the head skeleton became lighter and the intestines became shorter.

With the development of work activity, people continued to unite to live together. This expanded man's understanding of the world around him. New ideas were generalized in the form of concepts, which contributed to the development of thinking and the formation of articulate speech. With the improvement of speech came the development of the brain. It was in the listed directions that the action of the driving form of natural selection was realized. As a result, ancient people experienced a significant increase in brain volume in a very short period of time.

During the transition to a terrestrial way of life, human ancestors faced a number of difficulties in the struggle for existence. This includes the development of new habitats and the constant danger associated with predators in open spaces. For successful survival, human ancestors united into groups, and work contributed to the unity of their members. Ancient people collectively defended themselves from predators, hunted, and raised children. The older members taught the younger ones to find natural materials and make tools, taught them to hunt and maintain a fire. The use of fire, in addition to cooking, helped protect against bad weather and predators.

Social life provided unlimited opportunities for communication through sounds and gestures. Gradually, the undeveloped larynx and oral apparatus of ape-like ancestors turned into organs of articulate human speech. This was facilitated by hereditary variability and natural selection.

At the stage of evolution of ancient people, the leading role belonged to biological factors - the struggle for existence and natural selection. Selection was aimed at the survival of individual human populations. Those who were most adapted to unfavorable conditions and those who were more skilled in making tools survived. As people united into groups, social factors began to play a leading role in anthropogenesis. The advantage in the struggle for existence did not necessarily go to the strongest. Gradually, herding and associated forms of communication became the object of selection. Those who survived were those who preserved as much as possible children - the future of the population and old people - bearers of life experience.

Through labor and speech, man gradually began to master the culture of producing tools and constructing dwellings. Training and education, as well as the transfer of experience, were an important prerequisite for the emergence of elements of human culture. At first they appeared in the form of rock paintings, figurines, and funeral rites. The improvement of the collective way of life and the distribution of responsibilities between group members reduced the role of biological factors in human evolution.

Biological factors of the child

Biological heredity determines both what is common, what makes a person human, and what is different, what makes people so different both externally and internally. Heredity refers to the transmission from parents to children of certain qualities and characteristics inherent in their genetic program.

The great role of heredity lies in the fact that a child inherits a human body, a human nervous system, a human brain and sense organs. Body features, hair color, eye color, skin color are passed on from parents to children - external factors that distinguish one person from another. Some features of the nervous system are also inherited, on the basis of which a certain type of nervous activity develops.

Heredity also presupposes the formation of certain abilities in any area of ​​activity based on the natural inclinations of the child. According to physiology and psychology, a person’s innate abilities are not ready-made abilities, but only potential opportunities for their development, i.e. inclinations. The manifestation and development of a child’s abilities largely depends on the conditions of his life, education and upbringing. A clear manifestation of abilities is usually called giftedness, or talent.

Speaking about the role of heredity in the formation and development of a child, one cannot ignore the fact that there are a number of diseases and pathologies that can be hereditary in nature, for example, blood disease, schizophrenia, endocrine disorders. Hereditary diseases are studied by medical genetics, but they must also be taken into account in the process of socialization of the child.

In modern conditions, along with heredity, external factors negatively affect the development of a child - air and water pollution, environmental problems, etc. More and more physically weakened children are being born, as well as children with developmental disorders: blind and deaf, or those who have lost hearing and vision in early childhood. age, deaf-blind people, children with musculoskeletal disorders, etc.

For such children, the activities and communication necessary for their development are significantly hampered. Therefore, special methods are being developed to teach them, which makes it possible for such children to sometimes achieve a high level of mental development. Specially trained teachers work with these children. However, as a rule, these children have great problems communicating with peers who are different from them, with adults, which makes it difficult for them to integrate into society. For example, deaf-blindness causes a child to lag in development due to his lack of contact with the surrounding reality. Therefore, special training for such children consists precisely in “opening” the child’s channels of communication with the outside world, using for this the preserved types of sensitivity - touch. At the same time, as noted by A.V. Suvorov, a man who is blind and deaf, but who learned to speak, defended his doctoral dissertation, and dedicated his life to such children, “deaf-blindness does not create a single problem, even the most microscopic one, it only aggravates them, She doesn't do anything else."

Biological damaging factors

Biological weapons (BW) are special ammunition and combat devices with delivery vehicles, equipped with biological agents (BS). BO is intended for mass destruction of enemy personnel and population, farm animals, crops, as well as damage to certain types of military materials and equipment. Along with nuclear and chemical weapons, it is classified as a weapon of mass destruction. The damaging effect of biological weapons is based primarily on the use of the pathogenic properties of pathogenic microbes and the toxic products of their vital activity.

Conducting combat operations using biological weapons is sometimes called biological warfare. The basis of the damaging effect of biological weapons are biological agents - biological agents specially selected for combat use that can cause massive severe diseases (damages) in people, animals, and plants.

Biological agents include:

Individual representatives of pathogenic, i.e. pathogenic microorganisms - causative agents of the most dangerous infectious diseases in humans, farm animals and plants;
- waste products of certain microbes, in particular from the class of bacteria, which have extremely high toxicity in relation to the human body and animals and cause severe damage (poisoning) when they enter the body. To destroy crops of cereals and industrial crops and thereby undermine the economic potential of the enemy, one can expect the deliberate use of insects - the most dangerous pests of agricultural crops - as biological agents.

Pathogenic microorganisms - causative agents of infectious diseases in humans and animals, depending on their size, structure and biological properties, are divided into the following classes: bacteria, viruses, rickettsia, fungi, spirochetes and protozoa. The last two classes of microorganisms are of no importance as biological agents of destruction, according to foreign experts.

Bacteria are single-celled plant microorganisms, very diverse in their shape. Their sizes range from 0.5 to 8-10 microns. Bacteria in vegetative form, i.e. in the form of growth and development, they are very sensitive to the effects of high temperature, sunlight, sudden fluctuations in humidity and disinfectants and, on the contrary, remain sufficiently stable at low temperatures even down to minus 15-25 ° C. Some types of bacteria, in order to survive in unfavorable conditions, are able to become covered with a protective capsule or form a spore. Microbes in spore form are very resistant to drying out, lack of nutrients, high and low temperatures and disinfectants. Among pathogenic bacteria, the causative agents of anthrax, botulism, tetanus, etc. have the ability to form spores. The class of bacteria includes the causative agents of most of the most dangerous human diseases, such as plague, cholera, anthrax, glanders, melioidosis, etc.

Rickettsia are a unique group of bacteria-like microorganisms. These are small, 0.4 to 1 micron in size, rod cells. They reproduce by transverse binary fission only inside cells of living tissues. They do not form spores, but are quite resistant to drying, freezing, and relatively high temperatures (up to 56°C). Rickettsia are the cause of such serious human diseases as typhus, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, Q fever, etc. Fungi are single- or multicellular microorganisms of plant origin, differing from bacteria in a more complex structure and method of reproduction. Fungal spores are highly resistant to drying, exposure to sunlight and disinfectants. Diseases caused by pathogenic fungi are characterized by damage to internal organs with a severe and long-lasting course. Among them are such severe human infectious diseases as coccidioidomycosis, histoplasmosis and other deep mycoses.

Foreign experts include the Colorado potato beetle and locust among insect pests of agricultural crops that are of interest for use for the purpose of deliberate destruction of grain and industrial crops.

To infect people, the possible types of agents selected for the BS group are considered to be the causative agents of the following severe infectious diseases:

Viruses include the causative agents of smallpox, yellow fever, many types of encephalitis, hemorrhagic fevers, etc.;
- from the class of bacteria - pathogens of anthrax, tularemia, plague, brucellosis, glanders, melioidosis, etc.;
- from rickettsia - causative agents of Q fever, typhus, tsutsugamushi fever, etc.;
- from the class of fungi - causative agents of coccidioidomycosis, histoplasmosis and other deep mycoses;
- from bacterial toxins - botulinum toxin and staphylococcal enterotoxin. To infect farm animals, pathogens that are equally dangerous to animals and humans (anthrax, foot-and-mouth disease, Rift Valley fever, etc.) or that only affect animals (cattle plague, African swine fever and other epizootic diseases) can be used as BS. ).

To infect agricultural crops, it is possible to use pathogens of linear stem rust of wheat, rice blast, potato late blight and other bacterial, viral and fungal diseases of cultivated plants.

To damage stocks of food, petroleum products, certain types of property, equipment, optical instruments, electronic and other equipment, it is possible under certain conditions to deliberately use bacteria and fungi, causing, for example, the rapid decomposition of petroleum products, insulating materials, sharply accelerating the corrosion of metal products, oxidation of joints contacts of electrical circuits, which leads to various violations and premature failure of complex electronic and optical equipment.

For the most part, biological agents do not have sufficient resistance to environmental factors during storage and combat use. Therefore, it is intended to use them not in “pure form”, but as part of specially prepared biological formulations.

A biological formulation is a mixture of a culture of a biological agent and various preparations that provide the biological agent with the most favorable conditions for maintaining its vitality and destructive ability during storage and combat use. Biological formulations may contain one or more types of BS and be liquid or dry (powdery). According to foreign press reports, on the basis of some agents selected in groups of biological agents, various standard biological formulations (tularemia, Q fever, etc.) were created in the United States, which were comprehensively tested, including in test conditions, on human volunteers.

Biological health factors

Most people place increased importance on the role of microorganisms in maintaining a reasonable level of health. To destroy pathogenic (disease-causing) bacteria, some people use disinfectants for daily room cleaning and washing dishes, thoroughly wash their hands, and even take antibacterial drugs for preventive purposes. But this approach is wrong.

A person is constantly in contact with a huge number of microorganisms, and not all of them pose a health hazard. They are found in soil, air, water, and on food. Some of them even live on human skin, in the mouth, vagina and inside the intestines. In addition to pathogenic bacteria, there are opportunistic and even beneficial microbes. For example, vaginal lactobacilli help maintain the necessary acid balance, and a number of bacteria in the large intestine supply the human body with B vitamins and promote more complete digestion of food residues.

Constant interaction with a variety of microorganisms has a training effect on the immune system, maintaining the necessary intensity of the immune response. Uncontrolled use of antibacterial agents and the use of unbalanced diets lead to disruption of the normal microflora (dysbacteriosis). This is fraught with the activation of opportunistic bacteria, the formation of systemic candidiasis, the development of intestinal disorders and inflammation of the vaginal wall in women. Dysbacteriosis also leads to decreased immunity and increases the risk of developing allergic dermatoses.

Social and psychological factors affecting health also play an important role. Stressful situations initially lead to mobilization of the body with activation of the sympathetic nervous system and stimulation of the endocrine system. Subsequently, adaptation capabilities are depleted, and unreacted emotions begin to transform into psychosomatic diseases. These include bronchial asthma, gastric and duodenal ulcers, dyskinesia of various organs, migraine, fibromyalgia. Immunity decreases, fatigue accumulates, brain productivity decreases, and existing chronic diseases worsen.

Maintaining health is more than just managing symptoms and fighting infections. Preventive examinations, proper nutrition, rational physical activity, competent organization of the workplace and recreation area are important. It is necessary to influence all factors affecting health. Unfortunately, one person cannot radically change the state of the environment. But he can improve the microclimate of his home, choose foods carefully, monitor the purity of the water he consumes, and reduce the daily use of pollutants.

Biological factors of evolution

Man, like any other biological species, appeared on Earth as a result of the interconnected action of factors in the evolution of the living world. How did natural selection contribute to the consolidation of those morphological characteristics of humans that distinguish them from their closest relatives among animals?

The main reasons that forced once arboreal animals to switch to life on land were a reduction in the area of ​​tropical forests, a corresponding decrease in the food supply and, as a consequence, an increase in body size. The fact is that an increase in body size is accompanied by an increase in absolute, but a decrease in relative (i.e., per unit body weight) food needs. Large animals can afford to eat less high-calorie foods. The decline of tropical forests has increased competition between monkeys. Different species took different approaches to solving the problems they faced. Some learned to run quickly on all fours and mastered open terrain (savannah). An example is baboons. Their enormous physical power allowed the gorillas to stay in the forest without any competition. Chimpanzees turned out to be the least specialized of all the great apes. They can deftly climb trees and run quite quickly on the ground. And only hominids solved the problems they faced in a unique way: they mastered walking on two legs. Why was this method of transportation beneficial for them?

One of the consequences of an increase in body size is an increase in life expectancy, which is accompanied by a lengthening of the gestation period and a slowdown in the rate of reproduction. In apes, one baby is born every 5-6 years. His death in an accident turns out to be a very costly loss for the population. Bipedal apes managed to avoid such a critical situation. Hominids learned to take care of two, three, four cubs at the same time. But this required more time, effort and attention, which the female had to devote to her offspring. She was forced to give up many other forms of activity, including searching for food. The males did this. Freeing the forelimbs from participating in locomotion allowed males to bring more food for females and cubs. In the current situation, moving on four limbs has become unnecessary. On the contrary, upright walking gave hominids a number of advantages, the most valuable of which turned out to be the ability to make tools after 2 million years.

The creation and use of tools increased the adaptability of ancient man. From that moment on, any hereditary changes in his body that turned out to be useful in tool activity were fixed by natural selection. The forelimbs underwent evolutionary transformation. Judging by fossils and tools, the working position of the hand, the method of grip, the position of the fingers, and force tension gradually changed. In the technology of manufacturing tools, the number of strong blows was reduced, the number of small and precise movements of the hand and fingers increased, the factor of strength began to give way to the factor of accuracy and dexterity.

The use of tools when cutting carcasses and cooking food over fire resulted in a reduction in the load on the masticatory apparatus. On the human skull, those bony protrusions to which powerful chewing muscles are attached in monkeys gradually disappeared. The skull became more rounded, the jaws became less massive, and the facial region became straightened.

A tool of labor can be made only if a mental image and a conscious goal of the work are formed in the imagination of its creator. Human labor activity helped develop the ability to reproduce in the mind coherent ideas about objects and manipulations with them.

A prerequisite for the development of speech had to be a sufficiently developed brain, which allowed a person to associate a variety of sounds and ideas. Speech owes its origin to the imitation and modification of various natural sounds (the voices of animals, the instinctive cries of man himself). The benefits of community cohesion through speech became clear. Training and imitation made speech more and more articulate and perfect.

Thus, the distinctive features of man - thinking, speech, the ability to use tools - arose in the course and on the basis of his biological development. Thanks to these features, man learned to withstand the adverse influences of the environment to such an extent that his further development began to be determined not so much by biological factors as by the ability to create perfect tools, arrange homes, obtain food, raise livestock and grow edible plants. The formation of these skills occurs through training and is possible only in the conditions of human society, i.e. in a social environment. Therefore, weapon activity, along with the social way of life, speech and thinking, are called social factors in human evolution. Children who grew up isolated from people do not know how to speak, are not capable of mental activity, or of communicating with other people. Their behavior is more reminiscent of the behavior of the animals among which they found themselves shortly after birth. The formation of man is inextricably linked with the formation of human society.

The relationship between biological and social factors in human evolution. Biological factors played a decisive role in the early stages of homind evolution. Almost all of them continue to operate at the present time. Mutation and combination-type variability support the genetic diversity of humanity. Fluctuations in the number of people during epidemics and wars randomly change the frequencies of genes in human populations. The listed factors together supply material for natural selection, which operates at all stages of human development (culling of gametes with chromosomal rearrangements, stillbirths, infertile marriages, death from disease, etc.).

The only biological factor that has lost its significance in the evolution of modern man is isolation. In the era of advanced technical means of transportation, constant migration of people has led to the fact that there are almost no genetically isolated population groups left.

Over the past 40 thousand years, the physical appearance of people has hardly changed. But this does not mean the end of human evolution as a biological species. It should be noted that 40 thousand years is only 2% of the existence of the human race. It is extremely difficult to capture human morphological changes over such a short period of time on a geological scale.

As human society developed, a special form of communication between generations arose in the form of continuity of material and spiritual culture. By analogy with the system of inheritance of genetic information, we can talk about the system of inheritance of cultural information. Their differences are as follows. Genetic information is passed on from parents to offspring. Cultural information is available to anyone. The death of a person leads to the irreversible disappearance of a unique combination of his genes. On the contrary, the experience accumulated by man is incorporated into universal human culture. Finally, the speed of dissemination of cultural information is much greater than the speed of transmission of genetic information. The consequence of these differences is that modern man as a social being develops much faster than as a biological being.

In the course of evolution, man has acquired the greatest advantage. He learned to maintain harmony between his unchanging body and his changing nature. This is the qualitative uniqueness of human evolution.

Biological weapons factors

The destructive effect of biological (bacterial) weapons is based on the use of the pathogenic properties of pathogenic (i.e., pathology-causing) microorganisms and toxic products of their vital activity.

The damaging effect of biological weapons is based on the use of pathogenic properties of microorganisms (bacteria, viruses, fungi) and poisons produced by some bacteria.

The class of bacteria includes the causative agents of most of the most dangerous human diseases - plague, cholera, anthrax, glanders. Viruses are the causative agents of typhus, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, and tsitsikamushi fever. Fungi contribute to the development of severe forms of blastomycosis, histoplasmosis, etc. Some microorganisms produce toxic toxins (potent poisons) that cause poisoning and diseases such as botulism and diphtheria.

Causative agents of diseases such as cattle plague, swine plague, as well as some diseases that are dangerous to humans (anthrax, glanders) can be used to infect farm animals.

To destroy agricultural plants, it is possible to use pathogens of cereal rust, potato rot, fungal disease of rice, as well as insect pests such as the Colorado potato beetle, locust, and Hessian fly.

There are various ways to use bacteriological weapons:

Aerosol - contamination of the ground layer of air with aerosol particles by spraying biological formulations, an external sign of the use of bacteriological weapons in this way - a fog-shaped cloud in the form of a trace left by an airplane or a balloon;
dispersal of artificially infected blood-sucking disease carriers, which then transmit pathogens to humans and animals through their bites; an external sign is the appearance of a significant number of rodents, ticks and other disease carriers;
sabotage - contamination of air and water with biological agents in confined spaces using sabotage equipment; external signs - the simultaneous occurrence of mass diseases of people and animals within the boundaries of a certain territory.

The beginning of the enemy's use of bacteriological weapons can be determined using instruments and external signs, which include: a less sharp bursting sound compared to conventional ammunition; formation of a cloud of smoke or fog when ammunition ruptures; the presence of drops of liquid or powdery substance at the rupture site; dark streaks left by enemy aircraft.

To protect the population from bacteriological weapons, a set of anti-epidemic and sanitary and hygienic measures are carried out. This includes emergency prevention, observation and quarantine, sanitary treatment, and disinfection of contaminated objects. If necessary, destroy insects and rodents (disinsection and deratization).

Protection from biological factors

One of the seasonal skin protection products is a product to protect against the bites of blood-sucking insects and ticks. The consequences of insect bites can cause long-term disability. That is why the enterprise cannot neglect reliable protection against arthropod bites. Protective agents against biological harmful factors (from arthropod bites) are dermatological personal protective equipment (DPPE), which are designed to repel mosquitoes, midges, midges, horse flies, ticks and many others. Under no circumstances should you include in this category of products those that kill insects.

DSPE against blood-sucking and ticks are intended solely for repelling - these are repellent agents. Today there are quite a large number of manufacturers on the market that produce repellents. At the same time, the release form and packaging remain at the discretion of the manufacturer. These can be aerosols, sprays and creams. Also, each manufacturer decides for himself what volume the packaging of this or that product will be. We recommend that you purchase protective products in packages that are multiples of 100 or 200 ml, because This will allow issuance according to the norms. According to Order No. 1122n, the standard for free distribution of repellent products is 200 ml per month per employee. Consequently, each enterprise can choose those means and release form that are most suitable in each specific case. This is primarily due to the method of application.

If a worker applies a protective agent exclusively to exposed skin of the hands, face and neck, then it is quite enough to purchase a protective cream, but this does not preclude the possibility of using an aerosol or spray. If a person applies insect repellent to workwear, then in this case only aerosols should be chosen. Remember that when treating workwear, manufacturers guarantee that the repellent will last up to 30 days. But few people say that this period can only be considered in the case of storing work clothes in sealed plastic bags outside of working hours. How to choose the right repellent to protect against insect and tick bites?

According to TR CU 019/2011, each manufacturer must apply a protective agent composition to the packaging. Typically, the main active ingredient will be DEET or IR3535. The concentration of the active substance must also be indicated. The higher it is, the better the product will repel insects. The maximum permissible concentration of DEET in a repellent cannot exceed 35%. If the concentration is higher, then this product is dangerous for humans. If the concentration of the active substance is up to 20%, then this product is intended to repel mosquitoes, midges, horseflies and others. If the concentration is above 20%, then this product is intended to repel ticks. Pay attention to this!

In addition to synthetic active ingredients, there are also natural insect repellents. These include vanilla, cloves and concentrated lemon juice. The method of using protective agents against arthropod bites may differ from manufacturer to manufacturer. And also the method may differ from the release form. The method of using the cream is to apply to exposed areas of the body and thoroughly rub until completely absorbed. If an aerosol or spray is used, it is applied to work clothes and skin. The aerosol can be used on the skin of the face if applied first to the palm of the hand and then to the face. When treating workwear with an aerosol, special attention should be paid to the cuffs on the arms, the bottom of the legs and the collar.

Biological risk factors

Today we will not talk about how the use of narcotic substances by a pregnant woman has a detrimental effect on the body of an unborn child, or how children from so-called dysfunctional families become involved in drugs.

After all, as research shows, there are no class boundaries for drug addiction: it can affect the child of a famous politician, a major businessman, the child of a degenerate drunkard, and a child from an ordinary family with average income. As sad as it is to realize, drug addiction seriously threatens every person.

And therefore, today, even if the baby is still lying in the cradle, you need to know what can be done to protect him from this terrible misfortune.

Any experienced narcologist, before prescribing treatment for his patient, tries to find out in as much detail as possible the history of the disease, the characteristics of the body’s development, the biography, not only of the patient, but also of his relatives. Of course, the doctor does this not because of his own curiosity or desire to have a heart-to-heart talk with the patient. The reason is different - there are a number of characteristics of the body that can “facilitate” the body’s familiarity with drugs.

Biological risk factors for the development of drug addiction include various disorders of the prenatal (intrauterine) and early postnatal development of the child. In other words, toxicosis, infectious diseases suffered by the mother during pregnancy, difficult childbirth that caused injuries to the newborn, illness in the first year - all this can affect early initiation into drugs. This leaves an imprint on the further development of the body and contributes to the emergence of a state of physiological discomfort, expressed to one degree or another. In an effort to get rid of unpleasant sensations, a person subconsciously begins to look for ways to compensate in the outside world. Narcotization is one of these methods.

Disturbances in the formation of the child’s nervous system are of particular importance. They can be caused by pathologies of pregnancy and childbirth, concussions, improperly organized nutrition (for example, iodine deficiency) and chronic disease. Neurologists claim that minimal brain dysfunction (MCD) today can be identified in 70% of preschool and primary school age. Signs of the presence of MMD in a child are often of an implicit “fuzzy” nature. Few parents go to the doctor on their own initiative because the baby is whiny, has difficulty falling asleep, has a poor appetite, is easily distracted, and so on. Usually adults try to correct these shortcomings with the help of educational measures. Meanwhile, children with MMD need specialized help from a neurologist, and the sooner such help is provided, the greater the chances of success. Indeed, in the future, MMD can become the main cause of school failure, aggressive behavior, serious neurotic disorders and even early drug addiction. Children with MMD constantly need external stimulation and stabilization of their internal state. Drugs can later become such a compensator for a young person. Therefore, if your children develop such symptoms, do not hesitate to consult a neurologist - only he can determine the presence or absence of MMD.

Is drug addiction and alcoholism inherited or not? This question still remains open. One of the versions is as follows: in a number of people, due to their developmental characteristics, an insufficient amount of dopamine is produced. Therefore, for such people, intoxication turns out to be the most attractive, since it allows them to compensate for this defect. A predisposition to drug addiction is confirmed by simple life observations. Aristotle also said: “Drunkards give birth to drunkards.” The same can be said about drug addicts. Indeed, in families of alcohol and drug addicts, children are much more likely to become involved in drugs than children from ordinary families (5-6 times). However, what plays a leading role here - genetic characteristics or the general low level of health of the child, as well as an unfavorable family microclimate - is unknown. The drug addiction gene has not yet been found.

Thus, the list of biological risk factors in the development of drug addiction turns out to be quite wide. However, it should be understood that none of them determines mandatory exposure to drugs. Biological factors mainly influence the likelihood of developing addiction, as well as the speed of its formation. Therefore, such children need special anti-drug control.

Action of biological factors

Pathogenic factors include live pathogens: bacteria, viruses, helminths, protozoa, pathogenic fungi. In recent years, previously unknown pathogens of animal and human diseases - prions - have been discovered.

The causative agents of infectious diseases are found in the habitat of animals. Some of them, under normal conditions, exist in constant contact with the body, populating the skin, its derivatives and mucous membranes. Moreover, various parts of the body (skin, gastrointestinal tract, respiratory tract, vagina, etc.) are characterized by associations of certain microbes symbiotically associated with the macroorganism. But with a decrease in resistance and the occurrence of dysbiosis, saprophytes can cause one or another pathological process. Thus, mainly staphylococci, streptococci, rod-shaped bacteria, actinomycetes, yeasts and molds are localized on the mucous membrane of the nasal cavity. The trachea is poorer in microflora; there are no microbes in the bronchi and alveoli of the lungs. When the body's resistance weakens, microbes from the upper respiratory tract penetrate into the lungs and exhibit a pathogenic effect. The microflora of the large intestines is the richest in species and quantity. Thus, 1 g of feces contains several billion different microbes. The main ones are Escherichia (Escherichia coli), cocci, acidophilus bacteria, yeast fungi, anaerobes, etc. A decrease in the natural resistance of the body can lead to the activation of pathogenic variants of Escherichia and the appearance of colibacillosis, which is especially dangerous for young farm animals, including birds.

Most often the causative agents of infections are pathogenic microbes. Pathogenicity is understood as the ability of microorganisms to penetrate a macroorganism, multiply there and release toxic waste products (exotoxins) or release them during decay (endotoxins). However, pathogenic microorganisms not always cause infectious diseases when they are in the animal’s body. Microbial carriage is often not accompanied by functional disorders, and the proliferation of microbes is restrained by barrier systems. Resistant healthy animals can be carriers of pathogens of pasteurellosis, salmonellosis, swine erysipelas, horse washing, etc. Microbes are localized in these cases on the surface of the mucous membranes, in the tonsils, lymphatic follicles of the intestine and are released into the external environment. A decrease in nonspecific resistance leads to the activation of this latent infection and a sharp increase in virulence.

Virulence (from Latin virulentus - poisonous) is a set of pathogenic properties of microorganisms: infectivity (possibility of infection), invasiveness (overcoming protective barriers), aggressiveness (ability of intensive reproduction in the tissues of the macroorganism), toxicity (formation of substances toxic to the body).

Virulence increases when microorganisms pass through susceptible animals by forming capsules that interfere with the action of antibodies. The degree of virulence depends on the properties of the animal itself, feeding, maintenance and care. However, in all cases, the main etiological factor remains the pathogenic microbe, which determines the specific nature of the disease.

The source of infection is a sick animal. Pathogens of infections and invasions enter the body through the air, with feed, drinking water, through excretory ducts, damaged integumentary tissues, and by direct contact. These routes of entry are called “gates of infection.” The site of introduction is of great importance in the genesis of the disease. Many pathogens are able to penetrate only through certain places. Therefore, there are such concepts as sexually transmitted infections (horse breeding disease), dermatoses of infectious and invasive origin (trichophytia, microsporia), etc. The same pathogens can enter the body in different ways, hence, for example, there are intestinal, pulmonary, and skin forms anthrax, intestinal, pneumonic, nervous forms of canine plague. The input pathways represent an extensive reflexogenic zone, from where pathological impulses enter the central nervous system.

Once entering the animal’s body, pathogens can be localized in some place and, releasing toxins, determine the symptoms of the disease (abscesses, cellulitis, pneumonia), and spread in the body through the circulatory, lymphatic systems, and nerve trunks. The appearance of microorganisms in the blood and damage to a number of organs is called sepsis, the appearance of pyogenic cocci there is called pyaemia.

Toxic substances produced by living pathogens are divided into exotoxins - waste products of pathogens and endotoxins, released during their destruction. Exotoxins are proteins with antigenic properties and high toxicity. Their biological properties are similar to enzymes. Based on their specific effect on different structural units, they are divided into hemolysins, which dissolve erythrocytes (anthrax); coagulases that cause blood clotting; fibrinolysins, which dissolve fibrin; neurotoxins that affect the nervous system; enterotoxins causing feed poisoning.

Endotoxins are less toxic than exotoxins, but have the same properties. Exotoxins and endotoxins are antigens that are neutralized by antibodies - immunoglobulins of different classes.

An infectious disease is a complex of pathological changes that occur in the body as a result of the introduction and reproduction of pathogenic bacteria and viruses. General characteristics: changes in reactions to external stimuli (loss of appetite); metabolic disorder; disruption of the functional activity of life support systems; increased body temperature; decreased productivity.

Pathogenic microorganisms: bacteria, viruses, rickettsia, spirochetes, fungi, protozoa;
products of their vital activity;
macroorganisms (plants and animals).

In recent years, the importance of the biological factor of production and the environment has undoubtedly increased due to the intensive growth of cities and towns. Biological pollution includes pathogenic bacteria and viruses, opportunistic microorganisms of anthropogenic and zoogenic origin, producer microorganisms, products of the biotechnological industry (antibiotics, antibiotic-containing drugs, vitamins, enzymes, fodder yeast, etc.) and biological plant protection products.

A biological factor, as is known, is understood as a set of biological objects, the impact of which on humans or the environment is associated with their ability to reproduce in natural or artificial conditions or to produce biologically active substances. The main components of the biological factor that have an adverse effect on humans are a wide variety of microorganisms and their metabolic products, as well as some organic substances of natural origin.

The ever-increasing role of the microbiological industry associated with the production of amino acids, vaccines, immunogenic drugs, food additives, protein and vitamin concentrates is accompanied by an increase in the level of anthropogenic biological pollution of environmental objects. The use of yeast, mold fungi, actinomycetes, and bacteria in industrial production has led to the emergence of a qualitatively new type of biological pollution - producing microorganisms and their metabolic products, which also pollute the air of industrial premises and the environment.

Based on the foregoing, it seems extremely important not only to identify the sources and ways of spreading biological contaminants, but also to clarify the role of each of the individual biological factors in the occurrence of human pathology in order to develop measures to limit their harmful effects on the health of workers and the population living in the immediate vicinity from agro- and bio-industry enterprises.

A scientifically based system of quality control of environmental objects in relation to bacterial and viral contamination, based on hygienic requirements formulated in sanitary legislation documents and aimed at ensuring epidemic safety, forms the basis for non-specific prevention of infectious diseases. In this regard, the issues of development and scientific substantiation of hygienic regulation of microbial environmental pollution have been and remain relevant, both in the present and in the future.

Water from various types of water use, soil and indoor air can be factors in the spread and transmission of a number of infectious diseases of a bacterial and viral nature (mainly intestinal and respiratory). Data on the epidemiology of intestinal infections (cholera, typhoid fever, paratyphoid fever, dysentery, etc.) show the significant role of the water factor in their spread. The greatest epidemic danger is posed by disturbances in the centralized water supply system, which are responsible for up to 80% of outbreaks of waterborne infections. The water factor, along with the food chain, also contributes to the spread of Salmonella toxicoinfection.

Soil can also have a harmful effect on human health when pathogenic enterobacteria and intestinal viruses enter it with wastewater, when there is direct human contact with the soil during field work, or through contaminated vegetables, shoes, etc. Work in greenhouses and greenhouses, regardless of the season of the year, can lead to certain infectious diseases if sanitary and hygienic working conditions are not observed.

Domestic, hospital and some types of industrial wastewater are the main sources of microbial pollution of water bodies. The greatest epidemic danger is posed by insufficiently purified and disinfected wastewater from infectious diseases hospitals, as well as children's medical institutions where there are patients with chronic intestinal diseases. In this case, the species and strain characteristics of pathogenic microorganisms entering the water should be taken into account. An increased viability of synthomycin-resistant strains of Sonne and Flexner bacteria was found compared to synthomycin-sensitive ones.

In order to assess the sanitary significance of various and indicator microorganisms and determine their standard levels, quantitative dependencies and correlative connections have been established between their content in water and water contamination by pathogens of intestinal infections. Thus, a high degree of direct connection was obtained between the content of Salmonella and E. coli bacteria, Salmonella and lactose-positive E. coli, Salmonella and E. coli, Salmonella and E. coli phages, as well as intestinal viruses and phages in water.

The level of microbial contamination for various indicator microorganisms at which pathogenic bacteria and intestinal viruses are not released from the water of reservoirs in conditions of industrial and domestic pollution and during the disinfection of discharged wastewater is accepted as standard: LCP, E. coli no more than 1000 in 1 liter , enterococci no more than 100 in 1 l, phages of E. coli no more than 1000 cells/l.

In order to improve its epidemiological safety, state standards for drinking water have introduced requirements that provide for the purification and disinfection of water to a degree that guarantees maximum removal of intestinal viruses from it. Thus, according to GOST 2874-82 “Drinking water”, the concentration of residual free chlorine in water, during its disinfection, must be at least 0.3 mg/l with contact for at least 30 minutes or combined chlorine - at least 0.8 mg/l l on contact 1 hour. The residual ozone content after the displacement chamber should be 0.1-0.3 mg/l with contact for at least 12 minutes. A significant overall effect of water purification from saprophytic microorganisms, coliform bacteria, and phages is achieved in semi-production plants by coagulation, sedimentation and filtration.

In the spread of respiratory infections of a bacterial and viral nature, atmospheric air under normal conditions is not significant. The main factor in the spread of aerogenic infections is the air in closed spaces, primarily in hospitals. As a rule, outbreaks of nosocomial infections in maternity hospitals, children's and surgical departments are most often caused by epidemic strains of St. pyogenes.

The possibility of air pollution in residential and medical premises by such pathogens of bacterial and viral infections as hemolytic streptococci, meningococci, influenza viruses, smallpox, etc. has also been identified. The contamination of air in hospital premises with microorganisms largely depends on the amount of air exchange, compliance with the routine, the nature of cleaning, etc.

Hygienic standards for microbial air pollution in indoor spaces are established only for operating units of surgical departments and maternity hospitals. The total bacterial contamination of the air in operating rooms before surgery should not exceed 500 cells/m3 and 1000 cells/m3 by the end of the operation. The presence of Staphylococcus aureus is not allowed.

Existing maximum permissible concentrations for producing microorganisms are, as a rule, maximum, and most of them have pronounced sensitizing and allergenic properties. Being present in the air of the working area in the form of aerosols, the values ​​of hygienic standards of producing microorganisms are expressed in microbial cells per cubic meter (c/m). The maximum permissible maximum permissible concentration of producing microorganisms in the air of the working area is limited to 50,000 cells/m.

Biological factor of personality development

The problem of the formation of a person as an individual is traditional and at the same time relevant. The very concepts of “personality” and “development” are considered problematic. Personality - in its most general form - is an individual, as a subject of relationships and conscious activity, who has a stable system of socially significant traits, consciousness and self-awareness.

Personal development refers to 2 types of phenomena:

Biological development, i.e. organic maturation of the brain and anatomical and biological structures. This development occurs spontaneously, regardless of the person.
- Mental development, i.e. a certain dynamics of mental and volitional development.

These 2 vectors of development occur simultaneously, but not in parallel. Research results indicate that a person’s personality in the unity of its social, moral and psychological properties and characteristics is formed in the process of his entire life and activity. Personality formation is a complex, contradictory and at the same time natural process, influenced by 2 groups of factors: Biological and Social. The relationship between the biological and the social in the formation of personality has not yet been revealed in all its subtle relationships. On the one hand, in the process of personality formation, the main factor is the social in the form of the entire complex of purely human influences (this includes education, upbringing, social living conditions, culture, traditions, customs, etc.). On the other hand, biological (even genetic) factors also come into play, such as: features of neurodynamic processes, unconditioned reactions, instincts, temperament, etc.

Let us dwell in more detail on the influence of biological factors on personality development. The natural (biological) in a person is what connects him with his ancestors. Genes are the carriers of heredity in nature. Data from genetic science provide convincing evidence that there are no hereditary social programs for human behavior; we can only talk about hereditary biological programs that store information about the properties of the organism. Hereditary programs include everything in common that makes a person human: a disposition to intense social life, to work, to the inclinations of speech and thinking. External signs, features of the nervous system and pathological properties are transmitted from parents to children.

In educational terms, the biological factor represents a serious problem. Some scientists (Thorndike) argue that biological factors are decisive in the process of personality formation, others believe that social factors are dominant. In reality, it is very difficult to distinguish variability that arises under the influence of upbringing, education, and the entire complex of social conditions, from the influence of the genotype. For example, the fact that children reproduce the behavior patterns of their parents says little about the role of biological heredity, since parents regulate the upbringing of children, and they themselves imitate their parents, while being influenced by the family environment. In modern genetics, there is a tendency toward interpenetration, i.e., a person’s individual personal properties are determined by the interaction of the genetic system (biological factor) and external conditions (social factor). It is argued that both of them do not cancel or exclude each other, but are in close interaction.

Biological labor factor

In the current practice of certifying workplaces for working conditions, insufficient attention is currently paid to the biological factor. Underestimation of its influence on the working conditions of workers is typical for a significant number of professional groups and individual professions. A noticeable bias towards assessments of physical factors when certifying workplaces, sometimes not entirely justified, suggests the predominance of a mechanistic approach in the hygienic assessment of working environment factors.

In this article, I would like to make an attempt to expand the existing understanding of the biological factor from the point of view of a sanitary doctor and hygienist and invite specialists from certifying organizations for a discussion on this topic.

To begin with, it is advisable to give a definition of a biological factor that most succinctly reflects its essence:

Biological factor is a set of biological objects, including micro- and macroorganisms, products of their metabolic activity, as well as products of biological synthesis and having the ability to have a harmful effect when exposed to the human body and the environment.

When compared with the definition presented in the Guide to the Hygienic Assessment of Working Environment and Work Process Factors. Criteria and classification of working conditions P 2.2.2006 – 05.

Biological factors - producing microorganisms, living cells and spores contained in bacterial preparations, pathogenic microorganisms - causative agents of infectious diseases.

Guideline P 2.2.2006 - 05 limits hygienic criteria to the presence of a biological factor only in the air of the work area, leaving out all biological objects that have direct contact with humans during production activities.

It is clear that such a limited approach to assessing the biological factor was associated with the lack of a sufficient regulatory framework, methodological support (MSI), as well as with the massive scale of events such as workplace certification. The influences of the biological factor left “out of brackets” require more serious scientific and practical development.

The widespread development of biotechnologies and the introduction of biological drugs into everyday practice have an increasing impact on the human body, and often a negative one.

The presence of a biological factor in production is most typical for the following sectors of economic activity:

1. Agriculture;
2. Food industry;
3. Medicine;
4. Veterinary;
5. Housing and communal services;
6. Recycling and disposal of waste.

The biological factor is the leading harmful factor in the agro-industrial complex. A hygienic feature of agricultural work is the potential for the occurrence of diseases transmitted from animals to humans (zoonoses). In addition, the microflora of livestock buildings usually consists of saprophytic and opportunistic forms - Protea bacilli and intestinal groups.

Staphylococcus aureus and white staphylococci, hemolytic streptococcus, and mold fungi are found in the air of the working area of ​​livestock buildings. The degree of microbial air pollution depends on the method of keeping animals, the period of the year, the cleanliness of livestock premises and their disinfection. The number of microorganisms in 1 cubic meter of air can reach hundreds of thousands, the number of fungal spores can reach several thousand (Sychik L.M. Belarusian State Medical University, Minsk).

With the transfer of livestock farming to an industrial basis and the use of biological preparations (antibiotics, feed yeast, protein-vitamin concentrates, amino acids, vitamins), new types of occupational pathology arose, caused by the influence of both biological preparations used as feed additives and microorganisms, in including spores of some thermophilic actinomycetes.

According to Sychik L.M. (Belarusian State Medical University, Minsk). the average protein content in organic dust from a pig farm ranges from 12.9% and the average levels of microbial aerosol exceeded the MPC (50 thousand/m3) by 7-17 times.

Sanitary and hygienic studies showed that the average dust content in the air of the working area of ​​industrial premises ranged from 4.83±1.77 to 11.81±2.41 mg/m3, protein aerosol from 0.2±0.02 to 1 .91±0.35 mg/m3, total microflora from 366.7±32.7 to 831.5±83.7 thousand/m3, fungi - 12.81±1.91 – 20.25±3.36 thousand/m3, E. coli – 1.93±0.65 - 5.52±1.3 thousand/m3, which significantly exceeds the permissible levels.

At housing and communal services enterprises (sewage treatment plants), one of the hygienically significant factors is biological. High bacterial contamination of wastewater and resulting sediment creates an immediate epidemiological danger for workers. An open technological process and direct contact of personnel with contaminated water and sediments aggravate this danger. In addition, as a result of the formation of wastewater aerosol, the air around aeration tanks and settling tanks may become polluted. The predominant groups of bacteria for domestic wastewater treatment plants are gram(+) rods, spore bacteria and gram(+) cocci, actinomycetes.

The predominant genera of mold fungi were Aspergilliius, Penicillium, Cladosporium, Mucor, Ruzopus.

There is evidence of the release of salmonella from the air of the work area and from the atmospheric air at wastewater treatment plants.

At waste processing plants (Figurovsky A.P., Mozzhukhina N.A., Khomulo D.P., Ruzhechko P.V., Topanov I.O., St. Petersburg State Medical Academy named after I.I. Mechnikov), air the working area, technological equipment and enclosing surfaces are highly contaminated with mold fungi, mainly Penicillium and Cladosporium (up to 106 cells per m3), fungi of the genera Aspergillus, Scopulariopsis, Hormodendron, Mucor were found in smaller quantities. The content of bacterial microflora, mainly represented by spore-forming bacteria of the genus Bacillus, reached 2,104 CFU/m3. On technological equipment and enclosing surfaces, high contamination with mold fungi of the same types as in the air was detected; contamination with bacterial flora amounted to 105 bacteria per 100 cm2, in addition, bacteria of the E. coli group were detected.

The biological factor is present during maintenance and operation of sewerage devices, communications and structures, as well as when cleaning bathrooms.

In the production of medicinal products based on biological synthesis, workers may be exposed at the initial stages of the production process (growing the producer, fermentation) to the effects of an aerosol of the producer’s cells, products of the metabolic activity of microorganisms.

At the stages of the actual production and isolation of the antibiotic, as well as at the final stages (drying, filling and packaging), workers may be exposed to antibiotic dust.

The biological factor is typical for medical institutions providing direct patient care; on sanitary-hygienic and anti-epidemic inspections; on carrying out preventive measures; disinfection and deratization in epidemic outbreaks; selection, packaging, research, disposal, transportation of samples of biomaterials (blood, urine, pus, secretions, excrement) of infected and (or) decomposed tissues and biomaterials.

In microbiological laboratories of various institutions:

Bacteriological laboratories as part of health care facilities;
bacteriological laboratories as part of Federal State Health Institutions of Rospotrebnadzor;
educational bacteriological laboratories of universities;
problem and industry bacteriological laboratories of research institutes and enterprises for the production of bacterial preparations;
specialized bacteriological laboratories for the control of particularly dangerous infections;
specialized bacteriological laboratories for monitoring certain groups of bacteria: mycobacteria, rickettsia, leptospira, etc.

The biological factor is determined by contact with pathogens of infectious diseases. In the air of the working area of ​​laboratories, microorganisms are not determined based on the rules of a strict biological safety regime (SP 1.3.1285-03, SP 1.3.2322-08).

In accordance with the Guidelines for the hygienic assessment of working environment factors and the labor process. Criteria and classification of working conditions P 2.2.2006 – 05, work associated with pathogens of infectious diseases is classified into certain classes of working conditions without measurements. However, what to do in those workplaces where work is not associated with pathogens of infectious diseases, but there are harmful substances or agents of a biological nature with a particular allergenic effect on the body? At a minimum, they must be determined within the framework of currently valid regulatory documents, including P 2.2.2006 - 05.

Now about the order of the Ministry of Health and Social Development of the Russian Federation No. 205-n, more precisely about the Rules for the accreditation of organizations providing services in the field of labor protection (Appendix No. 2 to the order).

An organization submitting information to the Ministry of Health and Social Development for notification accreditation must submit, among other things, information about an accredited testing laboratory of a certifying organization that carries out measurement and evaluation work: chemical factors (chemical substances, mixtures, including some substances of biological nature ( antibiotics, vitamins, hormones, enzymes, protein preparations) obtained by chemical synthesis and/or for the control of which chemical analysis methods are used).

There is no trace of a biological factor, as such, even in the interpretation of Guidelines P 2.2.2006 - 05.

The answer is simple: to assess the biological factor, certifying organizations must have microbiological laboratories that have the appropriate licenses. The vast majority of testing laboratories of certifying organizations that have passed notification accreditation do not include microbiological laboratories. State institutions (Federal State Institutions of Rospotrebnadzor), where microbiological laboratories are most widely represented, are excommunicated by the Ministry from notification accreditation and cannot participate in the certification of workplaces.

One gets the impression that, as always happens with us, they threw out the baby with the bathwater. For the sake of incomprehensible logic, professional hygienists and microbiologists of Federal State Budgetary Institutions of Rospotrebnadzor became persons non grata when certifying workplaces according to working conditions - assessment of the biological factor became optional when certifying workplaces?

Let us assume, however, that not everything is so sad and the above assumption is not true.

It is well known that the scope of accreditation of any testing laboratory fundamentally cannot cover the assessment of all harmful and (or) dangerous production factors, because the variety of working conditions and factors operating in the workplace cannot be taken into account. The complexity of assessing a biological factor and the availability of microbiological laboratories for this also creates certain difficulties for certifying organizations. In these cases, the certifying organization has the right to seek help from a laboratory that is accredited to perform relevant microbiological studies.

Then the following questions arise:

1. Can a certifying organization that subcontracts another testing laboratory use the subcontracted laboratory's protocols directly?
2. Is it possible to attract a competent testing laboratory to carry out research that is not within the scope of accreditation of the outsourcing certifying organization?

At the II All-Russian Scientific and Practical Conference of managers and specialists of testing laboratories and certification bodies “Formation of a civilized market. The role of testing laboratories: from demand to recognition" in Vladimir, organized by the National Association of Occupational Safety and Health Centers, the topic under discussion did not find a clear solution.

And everyday practice provides more and more examples of the presence of a biological factor in enterprises. For example, already while writing this article, a request was received from railway workers to certify workplaces for the repair and maintenance of dry closets in passenger cars. It is very interesting that certification organizations accredited by the Ministry of Health and Social Development, which do not have microbiological laboratories, participate in the competition.

I would really not like to offend anyone, but this is very similar to a profanation of the work of certifying workplaces.

Interaction of biological factors

The biological and social in a person are so tightly connected that it is possible to separate these two lines only theoretically.

L.S. Vygotsky, in his work devoted to the history of the development of higher mental functions, wrote: “The radical and fundamental difference between the historical development of mankind and the biological evolution of animal species is quite well known... we can... draw a completely clear and indisputable conclusion: how different the historical development of mankind from the biological evolution of animal species."

The process of psychological development of a person himself, according to numerous studies by ethnologists and psychologists, occurs according to historical, not biological laws. The main and all-determining difference between this process and the evolutionary one is that the development of higher mental functions occurs without changing the biological type of a person, which changes according to evolutionary laws.

It has not yet been sufficiently clarified what the direct dependence of higher mental functions and forms of behavior is on the structure and functions of the nervous system. Neuropsychologists and neurophysiologists are still solving this difficult problem (after all, we are talking about studying the finest integrative connections of brain cells and manifestations of human mental activity).

Of course, each stage in the biological development of behavior coincides with changes in the structure and functions of the nervous system, each new step in the development of higher mental functions arises along with changes in the central nervous system. However, it still remains insufficiently clear what the direct dependence of higher forms of behavior, higher mental functions on the structure and functions of the nervous system is.

Exploring primitive thinking, L. Levy-Bruhl wrote that higher mental functions come from lower ones. “In order to understand the higher types, it is necessary to turn to a relatively primitive type. In this case, a wide field opens up for productive research regarding mental functions...” Analyzing collective representations and meaning “by representation the fact of cognition,” L. Levy-Bruhl pointed to social development as determining the characteristics of mental functions. Obviously, this fact was noted by L. S. Vygotsky as an outstanding position of science: “In the words of one of the most profound researchers of primitive thinking, the idea that higher mental functions cannot be understood without sociological study, i.e., that they are a product not of biological, but of social development of behavior, is not new. But only in recent decades has it received a solid factual basis in research on ethnic psychology (my italics - V.M.) and can now be considered an indisputable position of our science.” This means that the development of higher mental functions can be carried out through collective consciousness, in the context of people’s collective ideas, i.e. it is determined by the socio-historical nature of man.

L. Lévy-Bruhl notes a very important circumstance: “In order to understand the mechanism of social institutions, one must get rid of the prejudice that consists in the belief that collective ideas generally obey the laws of psychology, based on the analysis of the individual subject. Collective ideas have their own laws and lie in the social relations of people.”

These ideas led L.S. Vygotsky to the thought that became fundamental for Russian psychology: “The development of higher mental functions is one of the most important aspects of the cultural development of behavior.” And further: “When speaking about the cultural development of a child, we mean a process corresponding to the mental development that took place in the process of the historical development of mankind. But, a priori, it would be difficult for us to abandon the idea that the unique form of human adaptation to nature, which fundamentally distinguishes man from animals and makes it fundamentally impossible to simply transfer the laws of animal life (the struggle for existence) into the science of human society, that this a new form of adaptation, which underlies the entire historical life of mankind, will turn out to be impossible without new forms of behavior, this basic mechanism for balancing the organism with the environment. A new form of relationship with the environment, which arose in the presence of certain biological prerequisites, but which itself grew beyond the boundaries of biology, could not but give rise to a fundamentally different, qualitatively different, differently organized system of behavior.”

The use of tools allowed man, breaking away from biological developing forms, to move to the level of higher forms of behavior.

In human ontogenesis, of course, both types of mental development isolated in phylogenesis are represented: biological and historical (cultural) development. In ontogenesis, both processes have their analogues. In the light of the data of genetic psychology, it is possible to distinguish two lines of mental development of a child, corresponding to two lines of phylogenetic development. Pointing to this fact, L. S. Vygotsky limits his judgment “exclusively to one point: the presence of two lines of development in phylo- and ontogenesis, and does not rely on Haeckel’s phylogenetic law (“ontogeny is a brief repetition of phylogeny”),” which was widely used in biogenetic theories of V. Stern, Art. Hall, K. Buhler and other researchers.

According to L.S. Vygotsky, both processes, presented in a separate form in phylogeny and connected by the relationship of continuity and consistency, actually exist in a merged form and form a single process in ontogenesis. This is the greatest and most important uniqueness of a child’s mental development.

“The growth of a normal child into civilization,” wrote L. S. Vygotsky, “is usually a single fusion with the processes of his organic maturation. Both plans of development - natural and cultural - coincide and merge with one another. Both series of changes interpenetrate one another and form, in essence, a single series of socio-biological formation of the child’s personality. Since organic development takes place in a cultural environment, it turns into a historically determined biological process. On the other hand, cultural development acquires a completely unique and incomparable character, since it occurs simultaneously and seamlessly with organic maturation, since its bearer is the growing, changing, maturing organism of the child.”

The idea of ​​maturation underlies the identification of special periods of increased response in the ontogenetic development of a child - sensitive periods.

Extreme plasticity and learning ability is one of the most important features of the human brain, which qualitatively distinguishes it from the brain of animals. In animals, most of the brain matter is “occupied” already at the time of birth - the mechanisms of instincts are fixed in it, i.e. forms of behavior that are inherited. In a child, a significant part of the brain turns out to be “clean”, ready to accept and consolidate what life and upbringing give him. Scientists have proven that the process of formation of an animal’s brain basically ends at the time of birth, while in humans it continues after birth and depends on the conditions in which the child’s development occurs. Consequently, these conditions not only fill the “blank pages” of the brain, but also affect its very structure.

The laws of biological evolution have lost their only determining force in relation to man. Natural selection (the survival of the strongest, most adapted to the environment) ceased to operate, because people themselves learned to adapt the environment to their needs, transform it with the help of tools and collective labor.

The change in the image of a person led to the fact that the human brain gradually acquired sensitivity to various influences. Although there is an opinion that the human brain has not changed since the time of our ancestor - the Cro-Magnon man - in reality, a person who lived tens of thousands of years ago had a slightly different brain morphology. The neural basis of many brain functions has certainly changed over time. The functioning of the senses, hands, and solving practical problems inevitably led to improvements in brain morphology. The neuronal basis of brain functions develops in human history and is inherited in its genotypic basis. The neurons of verbal commands described by S. N. Raeva have genetically transmitted precursors in their morphological basis, although the neurons of verbal commands themselves learn ways of responding to the command in the process of purposeful human activity and his verbal communication.

If in the animal world the achieved level of development of behavior is transmitted from one generation to another in the same way as the structure of the body, through biological inheritance, then in humans the types of activities characteristic of him, and with them the corresponding knowledge, skills and mental qualities are transmitted in a different way - through social inheritance.

Biological factors. Characteristics of the forms of relationships between microorganisms, their significance in practical human activity?

General information. Environmental factors constantly influence the life activity of microorganisms. Under favorable conditions, microbes grow and multiply quickly. In unfavorable conditions, the development of microbes slows down, and then their death may occur.

Environmental factors that influence microorganisms are divided into physical, chemical and biological.

Biological factors. In the course of their life, microorganisms are in various relationships with each other and with other organisms. Over the course of long evolution, these relationships developed in accordance with the general biological law of symbiosis (cohabitation) of living beings. In nature, relationships between microbes and other organisms exist in the form of various forms of symbiosis, metabiosis and antagonism.

Commensalism- a form of symbiosis in which one organism lives and develops at the expense of another, without causing harm to it. For example, E. coli, some types of staphylococci, streptococci and other microbes live on the surface or in the cavities of humans and animals.

Mutualism- cohabitation in which both organisms receive mutual benefit without causing harm to each other, for example the cohabitation of nodule bacteria with leguminous plants.

Metabiosis- the relationship between microorganisms, in which, in the process of sequential development of some microbes, favorable conditions are created for the life of others. Thus, many saprophytes are able to convert food proteins into peptones, polypeptides and amino acids during feeding. Other microbes that are not able to use proteins metabolize these substances well. The first create food products for the second, the waste products of the second can serve as food for the third, etc.

Metabiosis relationships contribute to the rapid spoilage of pickled and salted vegetables and fermented milk products if they are stored open. Lactic acid bacteria produce lactic acid, which is consumed by mold fungi and thus prepares a substrate for putrefactive bacteria.

Yeast, producing alcohol when developing in environments containing sugar, such as fruit juices, prepares the conditions for acetic acid bacteria, after which mold fungi can use this substrate, converting acetic acid into carbon dioxide and water.

Metabiosis explains the rapid mineralization of all organic substances entering the soil. The principle of metabiosis underlies the entire cycle of substances in nature.

Antagonism- these are relationships in which co-living species of microorganisms have an inhibitory effect on each other, that is, one type of microbe interferes with the growth of another, delaying its development, or causes complete death. The phenomenon of antagonism was first described by the Russian scientist I. I. Mechnikov at the end of the 19th century.

The mechanism for suppressing cohabiting microbes can be different: rapid consumption of nutrients or oxygen from the substrate by one of the microbes; release of acids and other metabolic products into the substrate, complicating the development of other microorganisms or making it completely impossible.

I. I. Mechnikov proposed using lactic acid bacteria to combat putrefactive bacteria that live in the human intestine and constantly poison it with the products of their vital activity.

In natural habitats and various substrates, one or another type of relationship between microorganisms is established not in isolation from other types, but in conjunction with them, forming complex systems of influences and dependencies.

The competitiveness in antagonistic relationships of some microorganisms is closely dependent on their ability to produce and release into the environment special substances that strongly inhibit other species. Such substances are called antibiotics(anti - against, bios - life). Quite a lot of these substances are known. Those that turned out to be practically harmless to humans, but very bactericidal (killing bacteria), are widely used in medicine and in animal husbandry as therapeutic and stimulating agents. Some of them have a non-bactericidal, bacteriostatic effect (stop the development of bacteria). A characteristic property of antibiotics is their selectivity, which means that each of them acts only on a specific group of microorganisms. There are also those whose spectrum of action is quite wide.

Many microorganisms develop drug resistance when exposed to large doses of antibiotics over a long period of time. Antibiotics are low-resistant substances, their activity is reduced by heat, acids, light and other factors.

Penicillin- an antibacterial substance secreted by mold fungi from the penicillium group. Streptococci, staphylococci and pneumococci are most sensitive to penicillin. Rod-shaped forms are more stable. Penicillin resistance of some bacteria is explained by the fact that they produce the enzyme penicillinase, which destroys this antibiotic.

Streptomycin produced by actinomycetes. It has the property of inhibiting the growth of many microorganisms. It is used in the treatment of acute brucellosis, intestinal diseases, etc.

Gramicidin produced by the soil bacillus brevis. It acts on staphylococci, streptococci, pneumococci, causative agents of gas gangrene, dysentery, typhoid fever, as well as the anthrax bacillus.

Biomycin produced by actinomycetes. Suppresses the growth of many bacteria. Antibiotics produced by microorganisms also include tetracyclines(a group of substances with similar properties) and other compounds.

Antibiotic substances are mainly used for medicinal purposes. They have not been widely used to suppress undesirable microbiological processes in food products, since the spectrum of action of each of them is relatively narrow, and the microflora that contaminates food products is very diverse. In addition, their widespread use in storage practice could very quickly lead to their loss of medicinal value due to the inevitable emergence of varieties of microbes resistant to them.

Substances similar in their action to antibiotics can also be produced by higher organisms - animals and plants. Such substances, discovered in 1928 by the Soviet researcher B.P. Tokin, were called phytoncides.

Phytoncides are secreted by plants and have a detrimental effect on bacteria and fungi. Phytoncides of onion, garlic, aloe, nettle, bird cherry leaves, and juniper are especially bactericidal. Phytoncides obtained from onions in the form of crystalline powder, in a dilution of 1:40,000, instantly kill diphtheria bacteria. Phytoncides are volatile substances and affect microflora from a distance. Phytoncides are characterized by less pronounced specificity of action compared to antibiotics of microbial origin.

Among substances of animal origin that have antibiotic properties, lysozyme and erythrin are known.

Lysozyme- protein with alkaline properties. It is found in many substances and products of animal origin - in milk, chicken egg white. It is also found in saliva, tears, blood serum, fish eggs, and leukocytes. Lysozyme is destructive to many bacteria. It simultaneously causes the dissolution of microbial cells.

Erythrine derived from red blood cells from animal blood. It has bacteriostatic properties against the causative agent of diphtheria, staphylococci, streptococci.

One of the important biological factors affecting microbes is bacteriophagy, i.e., the ability of a bacteriophage to lyse a microbial cell, leading to its death.

Phages are widespread in nature. They can be found in bacteria-contaminated ponds, rivers, lakes, sewage, and other environments. Phages are used in medicine and veterinary medicine for the prevention and treatment of gastrointestinal diseases, and in laboratories to determine the type of bacteria. In the dairy industry and in enterprises that produce antibiotics, the bacteriophage causes harm: it reduces the activity of lactic acid starters and antibiotics.