veterinary toxicology and its uses in veterinary medicine, food safety and analysis and roles of veterinarian to ensure above issues.

1. DEPARTMENT OF PHARMACOLOGY
& TOXICOLOGY
RANCHI VETERINARY COLLEGE
BIRSA AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY,
KANKE
BY :- ANAL BOSE, 3rd Year

2. VETERINARY TOXICOLOGY
 Toxicology is a branch of pharmacology which deals with the
studies of harmful drugs and chemicals administered in over
recommended (toxic) doses on the biological system.
 Veterinary Toxicology is concerned more specifically with the
knowledge of the poisons that affect animals and birds and
the substances which are present in animal products which
can be hazardous to human health if consumed.
 Animal feed safety, food safety and environmental safety –
important aspects of veterinary toxicology.

3. Importance Of VETERINARY TOXICOLOGY &
Role Of VETERINARY TOXICOLOGISTS
 Veterinary toxicology is a specialty area in vety. medicine. & thus veterinary
toxicologists is a specialist in physical and chemical agents causing disease.
 They have a key role in animal health, animal feed safety, the safety of human
foods and in environmental toxicology.
 Diagnosis of animal intoxications, provide recommendations to prevent illegal
residues of substances from entering the human food chain.
 Recommends treatment and antidotes for animal that have been poisoned.
 Conducts research and teaching on toxicology and public health aspects
dealing.
 They study on sentinel animals as early warning of harmful chemical and
physical agents in environment.
 They deal in safety of agricultural chemicals , consumer products, surgical
implants and medical devices and medicaments.
 They also conduct research on lab animals for drug safety and toxicological
effects .

4. Diagnosis of Animal Poisonings
 A veterinary toxicologist works with the referring veterinarian, the
owner and veterinary specialists in pathology, microbiology and
nutrition to determine the most likely cause of a disease.
 Poisoning cases due to change in feed source, delivery of feed stuffs
and switching bins etc. can provide clue regarding intoxications.
 Determining the epidemiology of animal disease syndrome can
identify large scale contamination of feed stuff with toxic
substances.
 These are then correlated to public health importance and are
addressed.
 Necessary drugs and antidotes are prescribed by vety. Toxicologist
to save the life of the animal and economics of the farmer/owner.

5. Animal sentinels of Environmental Safety
 Animals can also be used as sentinels of environmental safety.
For e.g. small rodents and birds collected from contaminated
sites can be studied for adverse effects of environmental
contaminants.
 Tissues and body fluids can be assayed for xenobiotics and can
also be examined for pathological and biochemical methods to
identify biomarkers.
 Biomarkers and analytical toxicology can be used to monitor the
translocation of contaminants from environment to living beings
and the adverse effect may be determined to study the possible
impacts on non-target species.
 For e.g. sentinel animals can be used to monitor the impact of
contaminants (e.g. pesticides) in non-target species.

6. Assessment of Contamination of animal
feed stuffs.
 Feed safety ensures that animal feedstuffs do not cause
disease and residues of harmful chemicals in animal.
 Feed safety and human food safety are linked and exemplify
the convergence on the one medicine – one health concept.
 Chemical contamination of feed stuffs introduces harmful
chemicals into the food web.
 Therefore it is also the duty of the veterinary toxicologists to
analyze and assess the feed and associated health risks of the
animals, ensuring feed safety and preventing incorporation of
these contaminants in the food web.

7. Agricultural and Food animal residue (Food
Safety )
 Human health is directly related to the environment , and in
particular the nature and quality of food.
 But the food we eat may contain numerous toxic compounds which
may be naturally present ( e.g. solanine in potato i.e. a powerful
cholinesterase inhibitors and also have teratogenic effect.) or the
toxic substance may get acquired from other sources, for e.g. 1)
pesticides and insecticides sprayed on crop. 2) antibiotics or drug
residues in food animal. 3) spoilage contamination like by mould
growth releasing aflatoxins in feed that is a powerful carcinogen.
 Ingestion of different toxins by food animals is also responsible for
the integration of such toxins into food chain, thus threatening
public health.

8. Agricultural and Food animal residue (Food
Safety )
 To prevent and safeguard such issues, a veterinary
toxicologist studies and researches on different toxins that
come from animals, plants , phytoplanktons and toxins that
are result of pharmaceuticals, feed additives, radiation and
environmental agents and analyzes upon it to establish critical
points and implement regulations and standards to control
these hazards from entering into the food chain.
 As a food analysts , vety. Toxicologists works with other
concerned specialists to establish different limits for the toxic
residues in food and implement and inspect for the same to
safeguard public health hazards. They analyse the food
samples to be introduced to consumers and inspect them for
the toxic residues and concentrations.

9. Agricultural and Food animal residue (Food
Safety )
 Food animals suspected of being poisoned or suspected to
carry toxic residues are analyzed and rejected by toxicologists
and prevent them from entering the food web.
Therefore veterinary toxicologists are also considered as the
unsung heroes present among us who use the knowledge of
veterinary toxicology not only to successfully deal with the
dangerous emergency cases of poisoned animals, but also to take
care of public health aspects by preventing the incorporation of
toxins into our system and environment thus safeguarding the
whole ecosystem from public health hazards.