Toxicology general considerations

The review and interpretation of toxicology studies is a professional matter, requiring experience in both the laboratory conduct of such studies and the practice of appHed toxicology. Although all studies should be reviewed on a case-by-case basis, there are some general considerations to be kept in mind during the review process, described below. 

Weil, C.S. (1962). Applications of methods of statistical analysis to efficient repeated-dose toxicological tests. I. General considerations and problems involved. Sex differences in rat liver and kidney weights. Toxicol. Appl. Pharmacol. 4 561-571. 

GENETIC TOXICOLOGY AND RISK ASSESSMENT (GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS) 589... 

Because of the great importance of drinking water for human health, quality standards for pesticides in water were developed at Community level based on the precautionary principle. Toxicological considerations were not taken into account to derive the general limit for pesticides. 

The front end of this tier approach is a screen, the functional observation battery (FOB) Gad (1982) or Irwin (1968) screen. This is the tool of choice for initial (and for most of the compounds covered by this volume, the only screen tests for) identification of potentially neurotoxic chemicals. The use of such screens, other behavioural test methods, or what are generally called clinical observations does, however, warrant one major caution or consideration. That is that short-term (within 24 hr of dosing or exposure) observations are insufficient on their own to differentiate between pharmacologic (reversible in the short term) and toxicological (irreversible) effects. 

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