A Practical Guide to Toxicology and Human Health Risk Assessment

Toxicology the study of the adverse effects of chemicals on living organisms is the cornerstone to all aspects of chemical safety and knowledge of the subject is needed in a wide spectrum of fields from the chemical industry to medicine, emergency services, forensics, and regulatory science. Toxicology involves the study of symptoms, mechanisms, treatments and detection of poisoning especially the poisoning of people.

The many problems arising from a poor understanding of toxicology and its applications in hazard communication and chemical safety motivated the author s training courses and webinars, leading to this valuable book. Providing a practical and accessible guide, A Practical Guide to Toxicology and Human Health Risk Assessment enables readers to quickly build up knowledge and understanding of toxicology applications taking the reader from basic theory to an advanced basics level dealing with specific issues like pesticides, alcohol, and cigarettes.

The chapters are laid out to introduce the basic theory and then expanded to more advanced aspects, which is then applied in later chapters. One chapter, Human Health Risk Assessment, deals with risk assessment and the role of toxicology together with the similarities / differences between USA and EU regulatory requirements. Each chapter contains self–test questions and specific examples to highlight key issues along with a summary of the key points that have been covered and the book concludes with a listing of online resources on toxicology and risk assessment.

Laura Robinson, MSc, has worked as a toxicologist both in industry and in consultancy for over ten years. She has extensive experience in chemical risk assessments, occupational exposure issues, assessment and interpretation of toxicological data. She is a qualified teacher and has designed and delivered numerous training courses and written two books.