Knowra Toxicology Toxicology Toxicology studies how chemicals, drugs, and other agents harm living organisms, how dose and exposure shape those effects, and how poisoning can be prevented or treated.
Dose–response relationship : The relationship between the amount of an agent received and the magnitude or probability of its effects. It links the quantity of a toxicant to the severity and likelihood of harm.
Toxicant : A substance capable of causing harmful effects in a biological system under particular conditions. Toxicology examines toxicants across different organisms, doses, and exposure routes.
Poison control center : A specialized service that provides expert guidance on poisoning exposures and their management. Toxicology supports its assessment of substances, doses, symptoms, and appropriate responses.
Paracelsus : A sixteenth-century physician and alchemist whose writings emphasized that dose determines whether a substance is harmful. His formulation of dose-dependent toxicity remains a foundational principle.
Threshold limit value : A workplace exposure guideline for airborne substances, developed by the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists. Toxicological evidence helps inform recommended limits for occupational exposure.
Absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion : The processes by which a substance enters the body, moves through it, is chemically transformed, and leaves it. These processes determine which tissues encounter a toxicant and for how long.
Hazard : The inherent capacity of an agent or situation to cause harm. A substance's harmful capacity is distinct from the chance that exposure will cause injury.
Antidote : A substance or treatment that counteracts a poison or reduces its harmful effects. Antidotes apply knowledge of toxic mechanisms to prevent or limit injury.
Mathieu Orfila : A nineteenth-century Spanish-French physician who helped establish forensic toxicology through systematic chemical analysis of poisons. His work made toxicological evidence more rigorous in investigations of poisoning.
Occupational exposure limit : A regulatory or advisory limit on a worker's exposure to a hazardous substance. It translates evidence about harmful effects into workplace exposure controls.
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