ABSTRACT
Traditionally, clinical toxicology was regarded as the speciÞc discipline of the broader Þeld of toxicology concerned with the toxic effects of agents whose intent is to treat, ameliorate, modify, or prevent disease states, or, the effect of drugs which, at one time, were intended to be used as such. These compounds would fall under the classiÞcation of therapeutic agents (Part II). A more liberal deÞnition of clinical toxicology involves not only the toxic effects of therapeutic agents but also those chemicals whose intention is not therapeutic. This includes drugs whose exposure has an environmental component (metals), drug use as a result of societal behavior (alcohol and drugs of abuse), chemical by-products of industrial development (gases, hydrocarbons, radiation), or essential components of urban, suburban, or agricultural technologies (pesticides, insecticides, herbicides). These chemicals can be classiÞed as nontherapeutic agents (and constitute Part III of this book), but are in fact associated with a variety of well-known clinical signs and symptoms that warrant discussion as part of a clinical toxicology text.
