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The term toxicology means “the study of poisons.” ‘Toxic’ entered the English language approximately 1655 from the Late Latin word ‘toxicus’ (poisonous), derived from ‘toxikón’, an ancient Greek name for poisons in which arrows were dipped. The historical background of toxicology focused on the application of various poisons, and perhaps even today, most people think of “toxic substances” as a group of chemicals to which even minor exposure inevitably results in death or some long-term severe adverse effect, such as cancer.
Toxicology has grown into a sophisticated discipline, including the study of all types of harmful health consequences that any drug may create. The definitions below are offered to assist the reader in understanding various fundamental concepts.
Toxicity refers to any harmful (adverse) impact on a living organism that a chemical or physical substance may have.
Toxicology is the discipline that studies the harmful effects (toxicities) that chemicals or occupational exposure can have on living organisms under certain exposure conditions.
It is a science that seeks to identify all of the dangers (i.e., organ toxicities) connected with a chemical while also attempting to quantify the exposure circumstances in which those hazards/toxicities are caused. Toxicology is the scientific study of the occurrence, nature, incidence, mechanism, and risk factors for hazardous chemicals’ detrimental effects.
Effects of chemicals of how substances affect living creatures. A toxicologist is educated to investigate the nature of such effects (including the cellular, biochemical, and molecular modes of action) and to predict their occurrence.
Toxicology’s Disciplines
A mechanistic toxicologist studies the cellular, biochemical, and molecular pathways through which toxins harm living beings. Mechanical data may be valuable in the design and manufacture of safer chemicals and rational therapy for chemical toxicity and disease treatment. Mechanistic evidence in risk assessment may be valuable in establishing that an undesirable result found in experimental animals is immediately relevant to people.
Toxicogenomics enables mechanistic toxicologists to detect and protect genetically sensitive individuals from dangerous environmental exposures and tailor medication therapy to their unique genetic composition. A variety of genetic testing can detect sensitive individuals before pharmacological therapy.
A descriptive toxicologist is directly involved with toxicity testing, which gives data for safety assessment and regulatory needs. Toxicity studies in experimental animals are intended to produce data that may be used to assess the dangers presented to people and the environment by specific chemicals.
A regulatory toxicologist is responsible for determining whether medicine or the other chemical poses a sufficiently low risk to be sold for a given purpose based on evidence provided by description and mechanistic toxicologists. Regulatory toxicologists work on criteria for the quantity of chemicals allowed in foods, pharmaceuticals, ambient air, industrial atmospheres, and drinking water.
Forensic toxicology combines analytic chemistry and basic toxicologic concepts that focus on the medicolegal implications of chemical toxicity in people and animals. Clinical toxicology is focused on diseases that are caused by or are inextricably linked to hazardous chemicals.
Examples of Toxicology Disciplines Related to Human Toxicology
Toxicology of animals: the study of the detrimental effects of chemicals, medicines, and other substances on mammals to anticipate their consequences on humans
Toxicology of Reproduction and Development: the study of the detrimental effects of chemicals, medicines, and other substances on mammalian reproduction and development
Genetic toxicology: The study of the adverse effects of chemicals, medicines, and other compounds on genetic material, such as DNA and RNA
Immunotoxicology studies the immunotoxic effects of chemicals, medicines, and other substances
Neurotoxicology studies the adverse effects of chemicals, medicines, and other substances on the central and peripheral neurological systems (PNS)
Conclusion
Because each chemical induces a different spectrum of toxic effects and it is impossible to predict what set of toxicological studies to undertake ahead of time to portray and identify potential dangers postured by the chemical accurately, the substance is investigated using that as vast and varied a range of test equipment as possible to make sure that all potential hazards for that chemical have been identified.
