Researchers begin to evaluate the drug's overall safety, its safe dosage range, and any side effects it produces. Students plot and use a dose response curve to determine the toxicity of salt on an intracellular liver process. Since hydrogen peroxide is broken down into two harmless substances, water and oxygen, the rate at which oxygen gas is produced can reveal whether liver cells are functioning normally.
Salt inhibits the ability of liver cells to change hydrogen peroxide into water and oxygen.
Breaking down hydrogen peroxide into water and oxygen is a two-step process. During this process, free radicals are formed, which have the ability to create havoc within the cell. If the liver is unable to deactivate and eliminate hydrogen peroxide, cells and body tissues may be harmed or poisoned, and thus be unable to carry out their vital cell processes. Sample Test Results Resources Book Cooke, Robert. Angiogenesis and the Struggle to Defeat Cancer.