Article
Article
Oxygen toxicity
Article By:
Fridovich, Irwin Department of Biochemistry, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina.
Last reviewed:January 2020
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.480850
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- Oxygen toxicity, published June 2014:Download PDF
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A toxic effect in a living organism caused by a species of oxygen. Oxygen has two aspects—one benign and the other malignant (see illustration). Therefore, organisms that avail themselves of the enormous metabolic advantages provided by dioxygen (O2) must defend themselves against its toxicity. The complete reduction of one molecule of O2 to two molecules of water (H2O) requires four electrons; thus, intermediates must be encountered during the reduction of O2 by the univalent pathway. The intermediates of O2 reduction, in the order of their production, are the superoxide radical (O2−), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), and the hydroxyl radical (HO·). See also: Biological oxidation; Hydrogen peroxide; Hydroxyl; Oxygen; Superoxide chemistry; Toxicology
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