What is toxicology? DEFINITION AND STUDY OBJECTS

Toxicology is a scientific discipline that has an important development today. It is oriented to the identification and study of this substances that are toxic to living beings.

Thanks to the work carried out by professional toxicology staff, today it is possible to prevention and treatment of many complications caused by toxic effects.

Content

• Introduction to toxicology
• Definition and objectives
• Toxicity levels
  • How are these levels known?
• Types of poisoning
  • 1. Acute intoxication
  • 2. Subacute poisoning
  • 3. Chronic poisoning
    • Resources

Introduction to toxicology

Although the plants began to be classified according to their toxicity many centuries ago, the truth is that at the time of the Roman Empire, documents focused on these issues and the therapeutic benefits of vegetables were developed.

However, it will be in the nineteenth century when toxicology acquires a scientific and formal character, mainly from certain pioneer works, such as the Spanish scientist Mateo Orfila. The figure of Paracelso is also important, who coined the phrase "The dose makes the poison", which became a maximum of toxicology.

Definition and objectives

The term toxicology comes from the Greek word Toxikón, which can be translated as poison. In this way, toxicology is defined as the scientific discipline which is responsible for Analyze toxic substances and the consequences that cause in living beings.

Besides, A toxic substance is one that causes poisoning or that has poison itself. Toxicity, as we will see later, refers to its level of effectiveness.

Poisons can cause the death of living beings.

One of the main objectives of toxicology is to understand how certain chemical substances affect the body of living beings. Another of its priority objectives is to find the levels of these substances from which a compound goes from being sure not to be.

Certainly, this goal is very difficult to achieve since what is harmless to one person could be lethal for another.

Toxicity levels

Currently, There is some uncertainty regarding the establishment of the effects that certain chemical compounds can have on organisms. That is why they are established different toxicity levels.

The dose concept refers to the concentration of a substance to which the organism is exposed and in which the total toxic amount of the different input routes must be counted.

It should be taken into account that any toxic effect is proportional to the administered dose. Besides, When a dose is excessive, it is called overdose.

Therefore, It is necessary to establish the calls threshold From a toxicological point of view. In this way you can delimit delimiting a divisive line between:

• Exposure level - effect;
• Exposure level - non -effect.

This reference threshold refers to the Minimum amount of a substance capable of causing an effect on the body or the maximum concentration of the compound that does not produce detectable adverse effects.

How are these levels known?

Knowledge of substance toxicity levels can be obtained from theoretical forecasts. Two ways are taken into consideration which are taken into account:

• Retrospective studies of poisoning cases and through experimental tests with animals and plants. Because on a very few occasions, experimentation with humans is carried out due to the ethical and legal implications that this has, in most studies animals and plants are used.
• Retrospective studies of poisoning that occurred in humans. In the case of studies with people, the data obtained are Estimated toxicity.

Professional toxicology personnel use the maximum exposure level that does not cause detectable adverse effects of any kind, in any animal trial, and subsequently establish the so -called safety margin. The security margin refers to the arbitrarily established separation between the threshold of a substance found through animal experiments, and the level of exposure estimated as insurance for humans.

Types of poisoning

A toxic It refers to any chemical that, incorporated into the living organism into a certain concentration, produces under its chemical structure through physicochemical and biochemical mechanisms, alterations of cell physicochemistry, transitory or permanent, always incompatible with health and in some cases with the life.

The action produced by a toxic agent on an organism translates into an alteration of the physiological or health state.

Taking into account the degree of alteration that occurs in the body, poisoning can be qualified mainly as:

1. Acute intoxication

Refers to the appearance of a Pathological clinical picture, sometimes dramatic, for the exhibition of short duration, by one or several doses and with a very fast absorption. The limit is located in less than 24 hours. For example, occurs with phosphorus.

2. Subacute poisoning

Refers to a lower degree of poisoning devices. Produces in the organism some disorders at the biological level but does not clearly manifest. This type of poisoning is due to several doses that are not too large but they are prolonged over time, for weeks. The limit is 90 days.

3. Chronic poisoning

Refers to the consequence of the repeated absorption of a toxic. In this case the exposure time is especially high. In this case The limit is greater than 90 days.

Sometimes this poisoning is produced by the absorption of small amounts of toxic agent but, given the successive exhibitions, accumulation occurs in some organ or tissue or sometimes what accumulate is the effects are the effects.

A curiosity about it is that it does not usually manifest until there comes a time when, by a lower physiological state or a possible movement of the toxic agent, it manifests itself in the long term. For example, it happens with the Use of pesticides.

Resources

• We talk about toxicology. How the same compound can be a miraculous cure or a toxic poison
• The poison, the most silent protagonist of the crime
• A macabre plan: the murder of Asunta Basterra (Part I)
• Psychological profile of Basterra y Porto: the murder of Asunta Basterra (Part II)