Knowra Poison Poison A substance that can cause illness, injury, or death when it enters an organism in a harmful amount. Its effects depend on dose, route of exposure, and the organism.
Dose–response relationship : A relationship describing how the magnitude or probability of an effect changes with exposure dose. It explains why the same substance can be harmless at one dose and harmful at another.
Toxicology : The study of the harmful effects of chemical, physical, and biological agents on living organisms. Poison is a central subject of toxicology, which examines effects and their causes.
Antidote : A treatment that counteracts or limits the harmful effects of a poison or toxin. Antidotes can reverse or reduce particular toxic effects, though none treats every poison.
Venom : A toxic secretion delivered into another organism through a bite, sting, or similar specialized structure. Venom is a delivery-defined kind of poison, unlike substances that harm through other exposure routes.
Toxicokinetics : The study of how a toxic substance enters, moves through, changes within, and leaves an organism. These processes determine how much poison reaches vulnerable tissues and for how long.
Dose : The quantity of a substance received by an organism, often expressed relative to body mass. The amount received is central to whether exposure causes harm.
Poison control center : A service that provides expert guidance on poisoning exposures and their management. These centers help assess exposure details and guide urgent responses.
Toxin : A poisonous substance produced by a living organism. Toxin specifies biological origin; poison also includes harmful substances made by nonliving processes.
Toxicodynamics : The study of how toxic substances interact with biological targets and produce harmful effects. It connects a poison’s molecular action to injury in an organism.
Exposure route : The pathway by which a substance enters or contacts an organism, such as ingestion, inhalation, or skin absorption. A poison’s route of entry affects how quickly and where it acts.
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