This document provides an overview of toxicology and its branches. It defines key terms like toxin, toxicant, and toxicity. Toxicology is described as the study of how natural and man-made poisons cause adverse effects in living organisms. Several general types of toxicology are outlined, including analytical, applied, clinical, veterinary, forensic, environmental, and industrial toxicology. Environmental toxicology or ecotoxicology is the field that studies the ecological and toxicological effects of chemical pollutants on populations, ecosystems, and the fate of pollutants in the environment. The document discusses factors like dose, duration and route of exposure that determine a substance's toxicity. Common routes of exposure include skin, lungs, ingestion

1. THAPAR INSTITUTE OF
ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY
SCHOOL OF ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT
PRESENTATION ON TOXICOLOGY AND ITS BRANCHES
BY
BINJU P RAJ
601901005

2. BASIC DFINITIONS
 Toxin
Toxic substances that are produced naturally (nature
origin)
•Toxicants
Any chemical that can injure or kill humans, animals, or
plants; (poison)
 Toxicity
Describes the degree to which a substance is poisonous
or can cause injury.
• Factors: dose, duration and route of exposure, shape and
structure of the chemical itself, and individual human
factors.

3. TOXICOLOGY
 The study of how natural and man made
poisons cause adverse effect in living
organisms.
 It involves environmental agent and chemical
compounds, as well as pharmaceutical
compounds that are synthesised for medical
use. These substances may produce toxic
effects leading to , discomfort, disease and
even death in living organisms

4. IMPORTANCE OF DOSE
 The dose is an important factor in toxicology .
 All substances have the potential to be toxic if
given to living organisms in the right
conditions and dose.
 LD50 : Refers to the dose of a substance that
displays toxicity in that it kills 50% of a test
population.

5. ROUTES OF EXPOSURE
• Skin & mucous membrane
• Lung
• Ingestion
• Eye

6. SKIN
• Chemicals that can
penetrate healthy
intact skin – aniline,
• hydrogen cyanide,
• organophosphate etc.

7.  LUNGS (inhalation)
• Depends on :
• Size & Shape of particles
• Rate of physical work

8. INGESTION
• Mostly we can control (unlike airborne)
• Depends on :
• Concentration
•Time
a) • Continuous
b) • Intermittent
• Sometimes can accumulate and cause harm in
later life e.g. Lead

9. GENERAL TYPES OF TOXICOLOGY:
• Analytical toxicology
• Applied toxicology
• Clinical toxicology
•Veterinary toxicology
• Forensic toxicology
• Environment toxicology
• Industrial toxicology

10. • Analytical toxicology:
It is the branch of toxicology which deals with
the study of detection and assay of poisonous
chemicals including their metabolites that could
affect the biological system.
• Applied toxicology:
It is the application of new and modern methods
or technologies for early detection of toxicants
in the field setting or practice area.

11. • Clinical toxicology:
It is mainly involved in the study of diagnosis and
treatment of poisoning that can occur in
humans.
 Veterinary toxicology:
Veterinary toxicology focus in the study of
diagnosis and treatment of animal poisoning
including the transmission of toxin from animals
to humans via milk, meat, fish, food stuff and
etc.

12. • Environmental toxicology:
It is the branch of toxicology in which study of presence
of different toxicants including their metabolites and
degradation products in the environment and their
effects on humans and animals.
• Industrial toxicology:
It is the study of selective and specific area of
environmental toxicology.
 Forensic toxicology:
is the use of toxicology and other disciplines such as
analytical chemistry, pharmacology and clinical
chemistry to aid medical or legal investigation of death,
poisoning, and drug use.

13. Environmental Toxicology or
Ecotoxicology
 It was afterWorld War II that increasing
concern about the impact of toxic chemicals
on the environment led Toxicology to expand
from the study of toxic impacts of chemicals
on man to that of toxic impacts on the
environment.This subject became known as
EnvironmentalToxicology.

14.  “the field of study which integrates the ecological
and toxicological effects of chemical pollutants
on populations, communities and ecosystems
with the fate (Transport, transformation and
breakdown) of such pollutants in the
environment”.
 There are three main objectives in ecotoxicology
1. obtaining data for risk assessment and
environmental management.
2. meeting the legal requirements for the
development and release of new chemicals into the
environment.
3. developing empirical or theoretical principles to
improve knowledge of the behaviour and effects of
chemicals in living systems.

15. ECOTOXICOLOGY

16. THANKYOU...