ABSTRACT
Regulatory toxicology is that area of toxicology directed at protecting public health by regulating exposure to potentially harmful materials. Historically, regulatory toxicology has developed in a manner that has reflected humankind’s ability to relate exposure to certain agents with adverse health effects. Thus, early regulatory attention generally focused on preventing the acute effects of chemical agents, because these effects were observable and could be easily associated with exposure. Once the germ theory of disease was developed and the disease potential of human and animal waste was recognized, the disposal of these materials began to be regulated. Food and drugs were also the focus of early regulation due, no doubt, to the relative ease in associating acute health effects, such as food poisoning, with exposure to materials in the diet or in medications. Hutt [1] notes that adulteration of the food supply was a serious problem in the ancient world and quotes Pliny the Elder, who, writing in the first century A.D., said, “So many poisons are employed to force wine to suit our taste-and we are surprised that it is not wholesome!”
