Teratogen

513 Words2 Pages

Teratogens are all around pregnant women. Only look at the normal house hold toothpaste that states on the bottle, to seek medical attention if swallowed. Almost everyone has toothpaste in their home and uses it everyday but with all the chemicals, it is considered a teratogen if ingested. Teratogens affect embryo's development and counselors can help prevent exposure to teratogens. Almost any man made substance could be considered a teratogen to some extent. However, the key question is at what level is a substance to be considered a teratogens because, to officially be classified as a teratogen it has to alter the embryo from an unnatural growth or lack of. From the Life Span text, it lists the most researched teratogens as alcohol, tobacco, cocaine, and marijuana (Broderick and Blewitt, 2010 pp.55). Each substance can cause severe birth defects, but an embryo are known to survive and live a healthy life even with the most researched teratogens. Teratogens can harm an embryo from three weeks up to birth. The stage of development will determine how substitutable an embry...

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