ABSTRACT
Toxicity is an inherent property of a toxic substance; however, the nature and extent of the toxic manifestations in an organism that is exposed to the substance depends upon a variety of factors. The obvious ones are dose of the substance and duration of exposure. However, factors also include less obvious host factors such as the species and strain of an animal, gender and age, nutritional and hormonal status as well as presence of medical conditions such as hypertension or compromised function as in AIDS. Various environmental factors (physical and social factors, housing, and temperature) also play a part. In addition, the toxic effect of a chemical may be influenced by simultaneous, concurrent, or prior exposure to other compounds.
