Introduction To Toxicology and Its Scope

INTRODUCTION OF
TOXICOLOGY AND ITS

SCOPE
Dr. Viralkumar V. Surati
INTRODUCTION
Toxicology is the study of the adverse effects of
chemical or physical agents on living organisms.
A toxicologist is trained to examine and

communicate the nature of those effects on
human, animal, and environmental health.
Examine
cellular,
Biochemical
and molecular
mechanism of
action
Toxicological
research
Assesses the Examine

probability functional effects
of their on neurological
occurrence and
immunological
ROLE OF TOXICOLOGIST
• mechanisms of action and exposure to
Biomedical chemicals as a cause of acute and chronic
illness.
Physiology and • using toxic chemicals to understand
Pharmacology physiological phenomena.
Environmental • the effects of chemicals on flora and fauna.
Molecular • respond to toxicants at the level of the gene.

• develop antidotes and treatment regimens to
Clinical
ameliorate poisonings from xenobiotic injury.
SCOPE OF TOXICOLOGY
concerned with identifying and
understanding the cellular, biochemical,
and molecular mechanisms by which
chemicals exert toxic effects on living
organisms
concerned directly with toxicity
testing, which provides information
for safety evaluation and regulatory
requirements.
has the responsibility for deciding whether a
drug or other chemical poses a sufficiently
low risk to be marketed for a stated purpose
or subsequent human or environmental
exposure resulting from its use.
the quantitative estimate of the
potential effects on human
health and environmental
significance of various types of
chemical exposures.
MECHANISTIC TOXICOLOGY
 It is study and understanding the cellular, biochemical,
and molecular mechanisms by which chemicals exert toxic
effects on living organisms.
 Mechanistic data may be very useful in demonstrating that

an adverse outcome.
 Cancer
In-vivo experiment on animals may directly
relevant to humans.
 Organophosphate insectisides have similar relative
toxicity (inhibition of acetylcholinesterase) but have
differences in biotransformation.
Sometimes, in-vivo experiment may not
relevant to humans.
Saccharin cause gall bladder cancer in rats but In
human, it can cause same when it reaches to higher
concentration in urine.
Dose response studies showed that such higher

concentrations would not achieved in the human
bladder.
Mechanistic data are also useful in the design and
production of safer alternative chemicals and in
rational therapy for chemical poisoning and
treatment of disease.
 Thalidomide used as sedative agent. However, it was
banned later because it causes birth defects as it
interferes the angiogenesis.
 With understanding of this mechanism, it has been

rediscovered as a valuable therapeutic agent in the
treatment of leprosy, AIDS, variety of inflammatory
diseases and some types of cancer.
 The advent of new technologies in molecular biology and
genomics now provide mechanistic toxicologists with the
tools to explore exactly how humans may differ from
laboratory animals in their response to toxic substances.
 A small percentage of the population genetically lacks the ability to

detoxify the chemotherapeutic drug, 6-mercaptopurine, used in the
treatment of some forms of leukemia.
 Young children with leukemia who are homozygous for this genetic
trait (about one in 300) may experience serious toxic effects from
a standard therapeutic dose of this drug.
 Numerous genetic tests for polymorphisms in drug
metabolizing enzymes and transporters are now available that
can identify genetically susceptible individuals in advance of
pharmacological treatment
DESCRIPTIVE TOXICOLOGY
 A descriptive toxicologist is concerned directly with
toxicity testing, which provides information for safety
evaluation and regulatory requirements.
Descriptive toxicity tests in cell
yield
toxicologis culture systems or
information
t experimental animals
evaluate risks posed

to humans and the
environment
genomics
Omics
in
metabonomics transcriptomics
toxicity
tests
proteomics
REGULATORY TOXICOLOGY
A regulatory toxicologist
 Analyze the data provided by descriptive and mechanistic

toxicologists,
 Based on the analysis, they take decision whether a drug

or other chemical poses a sufficiently low risk to be
marketed for a stated purpose or subsequent human or
environmental exposure resulting from its use.
 The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is responsible
for allowing drugs, cosmetics, and food additives to be
sold in the market according to the Federal Food, Drug and
Cosmetic Act (FFDCA).
 The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is

responsible for regulating most other chemicals
according to the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and
Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), the Toxic Substances Control
Act (TSCA), the Resource Conservation and Recovery
Act (RCRA), the Safe Drinking Water Act, and the Clean
Air Act.
 In 1996, the Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA) which
fundamentally changed the pesticide and food safety laws
under FIFRA and FFDCA.
 The EPA is also responsible for enforcing the

Comprehensive Environmental Response,
Compensation and Liability Act [CERCLA, later
revised as the Superfund Amendments Reauthorization
Act (SARA)], more commonly called the Superfund Act.
 This regulation provides direction and financial support
for the cleanup of waste sites that contain toxic chemicals
that may present a risk to human health or the
environment.
 The Occupational Safety and Health Administration

(OSHA) of the Department of Labor was established to
ensure that safe and healthful conditions exist in the
workplace.
 The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
(NIOSH) as part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) in the Department of Health and Human Services is responsible
for conducting research and making recommendations for the
prevention of work-related injury and illness.
 The Consumer Product Safety Commission is responsible for

protecting consumers from hazardous household substances.
 The Department of Transportation (DOT) ensures that materials

shipped in interstate commerce are labeled and packaged in a
manner consistent with the degree of hazard they present.
OTHER AREAS OF TOXICOLOGY
 Forensic toxicology
 It is a hybrid of analytic chemistry and fundamental
toxicological principles.
 It is concerned primarily with the medicolegal aspects of the

harmful effects of chemicals on humans and animals.
 The expertise of forensic toxicologists is invoked primarily to aid

in establishing the cause of death and determining its
circumstances in a postmortem investigation.
 Clinical toxicology
 It designates an area of professional emphasis in the realm of
medical science that is concerned with disease caused by or
uniquely associated with toxic substances.
 Environmental toxicology
 It focuses on the impacts of chemical pollutants in the
environment on biological organisms.
 Although toxicologists concerned with the effects of

environmental pollutants on human health fit into this
definition, it is most commonly associated with studies on the
impacts of chemicals on nonhuman organisms such as fish,
birds, terrestrial animals, and plants.
 Ecotoxicology
 It is a specialized area within environmental toxicology
that focuses more specifically on the impacts of toxic
substances on population dynamics in an ecosystem.
REFERENCE
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INTRODUCTION OF

TOXICOLOGY AND ITS

A toxicologist is trained to examine and

Assesses the Examine

Molecular • respond to toxicants at the level of the gene.

 Mechanistic data may be very useful in demonstrating that

Dose response studies showed that such higher

 With understanding of this mechanism, it has been

 A small percentage of the population genetically lacks the ability to

evaluate risks posed

 Analyze the data provided by descriptive and mechanistic

 Based on the analysis, they take decision whether a drug

 The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is

 The EPA is also responsible for enforcing the

 The Occupational Safety and Health Administration

 The Consumer Product Safety Commission is responsible for

 The Department of Transportation (DOT) ensures that materials

 It is concerned primarily with the medicolegal aspects of the

 The expertise of forensic toxicologists is invoked primarily to aid

 Although toxicologists concerned with the effects of

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