Industrial Toxicology

Chemicals that enter the body (xenobiotics) by various routes (oral, cutaneous, respiratory) are distributed throughout the body before being transformed (metabolized) by the action of our "internal biochemical factory" (liver, kidneys...) to be either utilized (energy, constituents) or neutralized (detoxification). They are then excreted. Depending on the dose absorbed, they may exert a pharmacological action that corrects the functioning of an organ (drugs), or a toxic action that more or less seriously disrupts the functioning of an organ during their stay in the body.

Exposure to potential hazards depends on the substance's ability to penetrate the body (physico-chemical properties), as well as on the duration of exposure and the concentration administered. For many chemical substances, "the dose creates the poison"; in other words, the significance of the effects is linked to the quantity of the product brought into contact with the body by various routes. However, for some substances, such as endocrine disruptors, reactivity in the body is independent of dose progressivity.

Industrial toxicology applies standardized procedures defined by the registration authorities to assess the hazards of substances produced by the chemical industry. This results in the classification and labeling of these chemical substances according to an international system, in order to inform users of the hazards of these substances, but also in the determination of toxicological reference values, resulting from toxicology studies, which make it possible to define adequate prevention and protection measures to control the risks resulting from potential exposure.

The old system of classification and labeling of hazardous substances under Directive 67/548/EEC was replaced by the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS), on 1 ^er December 2010 for the classification of substances, and on 1 ^er June 2015 for mixtures. GHS has been translated into CLP (Classification, Labelling and Packaging) in the European Community.

This article provides a simple explanation of the toxicological effects of chemical substances, as well as their translation into the Safety Data Sheets (SDS) made available to users of chemical substances.