Some concepts in toxicology

Toxicology seeks to understand and quantify injurious chemico-biological interactions. The application of this understanding is prediction of the likelihood of occurrence of injury to human health or to undesirable alteration of ecological balance. The key to understanding chemical induced biological injury is development of improved methods of measuring changes in cellular function and structure and the application of these methods to elucidate the mechanisms and factors that modulate chemical injuries. The key to application of this understanding is appropriately designed dose-response and time-response studies which will, with appropriate consideration of biological mechanisms, allow prediction of conditions of exposure (and their confidence limits) that represent finite levels of risk of injury. The underlying data base required is extensive and will be drawn from traditional studies as well as new methods of testing and risk assessment.