ABSTRACT
The epidemiology of nephrotoxicity is as diverse as its pathophysiology. The circumstances under which exposure occurs, whether a toxicant acts more or less directly on the kidney or activates extrarenal immune or metabolic events that harm the kidney, the interval between exposure and appearance of disease, and the clinical and laboratory manifestations of renal damage, all vary greatly. With stricter controls on the environment, especially the workplace, several noxious agents that once were important are no longer significant causes of renal disease. However, new renal toxicants are coming into prominence, the majority being pharmaceuticals.
