ABSTRACT

Due to the phenomena of biological effects of different occupational and environmental chemicals, many situations are encountered, where due to intra species variation in toxicokinetics and toxicodynamics, certain groups of individuals are found to be more vulnerable than others.1 Protein and/or calorie malnutrition, infections and parasitic stress, immunological status, age, sex, genetic predisposition, and lifestyle factors are known to mediate toxicity, both qualitatively and quantitatively. Identification and protection of the most vulnerable is essential in the design of regulatory standards. Hence, for an understanding of such groups, sensitive, specific, simple and cost effective diagnostic tests are essential. These tests, once validated, will be helpful in epidemiological surveys. Using such specifically designed probes, both high risk individuals can be identified and the basis of such variations can be understood. Presently, such data has been extrapolated from simulated animal models allowing for an arbitrary margin for interspecies and intraspecies variation. Recently, with the advent of molecular toxicology, specifically designed probes could be developed to supplement earlier methods.