Frequently Asked Questions
What is Toxicology?
Toxicology is the study of harmful effects of chemicals on people, animals, and other
living organisms.听 Much of the good life we have is because we use chemicals properly,
including medicines, pesicides and cleaning products.听 Toxicologists are the scientists
who help us decide how much is too much of a good thing!
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Why do we need toxicologists?
Toxicologists use their specialized education and training to make significant contributions
to science and soecity.听 Some conduct studies that are curcial to the discovery of
what happenes to us when we are exposed to toxic levels of drugs, pesticides, air
pollutants and other chemicals, including exactly what happens at the biochemical
and molecular levels.听 Many important regulatory decisions are based on information
provided by toxicologists.
What exactly do toxicologists do?
Industry Toxicologists - These toxicologists contribute to the development of new
and useful products like pharmaceuticals, industrial chemicals and a huge variety
of consumer products (e.g., soaps, cosmetics, food additivies, paints, etc.).听 They
perform toxicity testing experiments and evaluate other relevant data collected by
other laboratories.听 This provides vital information for evaluating the safety of
a drug or other chemical that helps to set allowable dosages, exposure concentrations
and other necessary regulatory requirements.
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Regulatory Toxicologits -听
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College of Pharmacy
