ABSTRACT
Developmental toxicology is the identification and study of hazards for pregnant women that might produce adverse outcomes in pregnancy. Hazards of popular concern include therapeutic and recreational drugs, pesticides, and environmental pollution. Testing drugs and other chemicals for developmental toxicity is an important industry and is subject to extensive national and international regulation. The difference between hazard and risk is frequently ignored in the popular press and this often leads to exaggerated interpretation of developmental toxicity. It is worth restating that in toxicology a hazard is anything that can produce harm, whereas risk is the potential for a hazard to produce harm. A hazard will not pose any risk to a pregnant woman or embryo unless they are exposed to a sufficient amount of that hazard to initiate harm.
