Occupational toxicologists assess the hazards and risks to health posed by chemicals encountered in the workplace.
Typically, the clinical toxicologist is a medically qualified graduate who has specialist knowledge of the adverse effects of drugs and other chemicals in humans – and especially how to treat patients who have been exposed to a toxic substance.
The forensic toxicologist deals mainly with providing information to the legal system on the effects of drugs and poisons. They are often very senior toxicologists who have gained a lot of experience in other areas of toxicology first, such as analytical chemistry.
Having gathered and evaluated the available toxicological evidence, they may attend court as an expert witness to describe and explain the evidence relating to the case. These can range from simple ‘drink-driving’ cases to fatal accident, suicide and murder investigations, where deliberate or accidental poisoning is suspected.
CRO toxicologists work with many different companies in the pharmaceutical and chemical industries. As CROs conduct a wide range of studies, their toxicologists can become expert in the details of how to conduct and interpret complex studies across a range of species and dose routes.
Ecotoxicology is the study of the toxic effects of chemicals on the aquatic and terrestrial environment. Ecotoxicologists study the immediate effect of a toxic substance on individual organisms and on species in food webs, with the ultimate aims of predicting effects on wildlife populations, ecosystems and on human food resources such as fish and shellfish.