Toxicology is the branch of medicine that studies the effects of toxins or poisonous plants, animals and minerals, as well as the treatments for poisoning.
Toxicology the branch of medicine that studies the effects of toxins or poisonous plants, animals and minerals, as well as the treatments for poisoning. It can also be defined as the discipline that studies the harmful effects of chemical and physical agents (toxicants) in biological systems. Toxicologists also establish the amount of damage these agents do to living organisms, depending on the amount of exposure. They deals with the nature and mechanisms of injury and evaluate the various biological changes produced by noxious agents.
Many toxic substances are poisonous indirectly. One example is methanol, which is not poisonous in itself, but becomes toxic formaldehyde in the liver. Many narcotic molecules become toxic in the liver, such as acetaminophen or paracetamol, especially in the presence of alcohol. The genetic variability of certain liver enzymes causes them to be transformed into many different toxic compounds from one individual to another. Because the activity of one liver enzyme may induce activity in others, many molecules become toxic in combination.
A very common activity among toxicologists is to identify which liver enzymes convert a molecule into a poison, the toxic products of this conversion, and under what conditions and in which individuals this conversion takes place.
