toxicity
Sign in to saveToxicity is the degree to which a chemical substance or a particular mixture of substances can damage an organism. Toxicity can refer to the effect on a whole organism, such as an animal, bacterium, or plant, as well as the effect on a substructure of the organism, such as a cell (cytotoxicity) or an organ such as the liver (hepatotoxicity). Sometimes the word is more or less synonymous with poisoning in everyday usage.
AI overview
Toxicity refers to how much harm a chemical substance can cause to living organisms, whether affecting the whole organism or just specific parts like cells or organs. It's a measure scientists use to understand how dangerous a chemical is, and the term is often used similarly to "poisoning" in everyday conversation.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Key facts
- Medical condition (new).name
- Toxicity
- Medical condition (new).image
- Skull and crossbones.svg
- Medical condition (new).width
- 150px
- Medical condition (new).caption
- The skull and crossbones is a common symbol for toxicity.
via Wikipedia infobox
Article
22 sectionsContents
- Etymology
- History
- Types
- Measuring
- Classification
- Health hazards
- Acute toxicity
- Other methods of exposure and severity
- Other categories
- Environmental hazards
- Common types of environmental hazards
- Occupational hazards
- Hazards for small businesses
- Hazards from medical waste and prescription disposal
- Hazards in the arts
- Mapping environmental hazards
- Aquatic toxicity
- Factors influencing toxicity
- Alternatives to dose-response framework
- See also
- References
- External links
Toxicity is the degree to which a chemical substance or a particular mixture of substances can damage an organism. Toxicity can refer to the effect on a whole organism, such as an animal, bacterium, or plant, as well as the effect on a substructure of the organism, such as a cell (cytotoxicity) or an organ such as the liver (hepatotoxicity). Sometimes the word is more or less synonymous with poisoning in everyday usage.
A central concept of toxicology is that the effects of a toxicant are dose-dependent; even water can lead to water intoxication when taken in too high a dose, whereas for even a very toxic substance such as snake venom there is a dose below which there is no detectable toxic effect. Toxicity is species-specific, making cross-species analysis problematic. Newer paradigms and metrics are evolving to bypass animal testing, while maintaining the concept of toxicity endpoints.