> The toxicology of synthetic chemicals is compared to that of natural chemicals, which represent the vast bulk of the chemicals to which humans are exposed. Synthetic toxins such as dioxin are compared to natural chemicals, such as indole carbinol (in broccoli) and ethanol. Trade-offs between synthetic and natural pesticides are discussed. In high-dose tests, a high proportion of both natural and synthetic chemicals are carcinogens, mutagens, teratogens, and clastogens (30-50% for each group) 

Poisoning from plant toxins in the milk of foraging
animals was quite common in previous centuries. Cow or
goat milk and other ingested dairy products were contaminated
by the natural toxins from plants that were eaten by
foraging animals in nonindustrial, agricultural societies, because
toxins that are absorbed through the animal's gut are
often secreted in the milk.

When cows and goats forage on lupine, 
their offspring may have teratogenic
abnormalities, such as "crooked calf" syndrome
caused by the anagyrine in lupine. Such significant
amounts of these teratogens can be transferred to the animals'
milk that drinking the milk during pregnancy is a
teratogenic risk for humans: in one rural California
family, a baby boy, a litter of puppies, and goat kids all had
a "crooked" bone birth defect. Both the pregnant woman
and the pregnant dog had been drinking milk obtained from
the family goats, which had been foraging on lupine, the main
forage in winter.

Nature's chemicals and synthetic chemicals: Comparative toxicology
(carcinogens/mutagens/teratogens/clastogens/dioxin)
BRUCE N. AMES, MARGIE PROFET, AND Lois SWIRSKY GOLD
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 87 (1990)

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