Editing Poison (section)

==Uses==
[[Industrial sector|Industry]], [[agriculture]], and other sectors employ many poisonous substances, usually for reasons other than their [[toxicity]] to humans. Examples include medicines (e.g. anthelmintics used on chickens<ref name="The Arsenic in Your Chicken">{{cite web |date=13 May 2013 |first=Chris |last=Hunt |title=The Arsenic in Your Chicken |publisher=Huffington Post |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/arsenic-in-chicken_b_3267334}}</ref><ref name="FDA-Arsenic in Chicken">{{cite web |title=Did the FDA Admit That 70% of U.S. Chickens Contain Arsenic? |publisher=Snopes |date=20 Jan 2015 |url=https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/chicken-contains-arsenic/}}</ref>), [[solvent]]s (e.g. rubbing alcohol, turpentine), [[cleaning agent|cleaners]] (e.g. bleach, ammonia), [[coatings]] (e.g. arsenic wallpaper), and [[feedstock]]s. The toxicity itself sometimes has economic value, when it serves agricultural purposes of [[weed control]] and [[pest control]]. Most poisonous industrial compounds have associated [[material safety data sheet]]s and are classified as [[hazardous substance]]s. Hazardous substances are subject to extensive regulation on production, procurement, and use in overlapping domains of [[occupational safety and health]], [[public health]], [[drinking water quality standards]], [[air pollution]], and [[environmental protection]]. Due to the mechanics of [[molecular diffusion]], many poisonous compounds rapidly diffuse into [[Tissue (biology)|biological tissues]], air, water, or [[soil]] on a molecular scale. By the principle of [[entropy]], [[chemical hazard|chemical contamination]] is typically costly or infeasible to reverse, unless specific [[chelating]] agents or [[filtration|micro-filtration]] processes are available. Chelating agents are often broader in scope than the acute target, and therefore their ingestion necessitates careful [[Physician|medical]] or [[veterinarian]] supervision.

[[Pesticide]]s are one group of substances whose prime purpose is their toxicity to various insects and other animals deemed to be pests (e.g., [[rat]]s and [[cockroach]]es). Natural pesticides have been used for this purpose for thousands of years (e.g. concentrated [[table salt]] is toxic to many [[slug]]s and [[Snail|snails]]). [[Bioaccumulation]] of chemically-prepared agricultural [[insecticide]]s is a matter of concern for the many species, especially [[bird]]s, which [[insectivore|consume insects]] as a primary food source. Selective toxicity, controlled application, and controlled [[biodegradation]] are major challenges in [[herbicide]] and pesticide development and in [[chemical engineering]] generally, as all lifeforms on earth share an underlying [[biochemistry]]; organisms exceptional in their environmental resilience are classified as [[extremophile]]s, these for the most part exhibiting radically different susceptibilities.