title: A toxicology program for evaluating the safety of a chemical warfare decontaminant.
abstract: An ideal topical decontaminant for chemical warfare agents should be highly efficacious, easy to use, and have low toxicity. For toxicity assessment, a stepwise approach linking type of toxicity study to stage of decontaminant development is both efficient and economical. In the initial exploratory phase, range-finding acute toxicity studies using a few animals will suffice to screen out highly toxic decontaminants . More definitive acute toxicity studies and a short term mutagenic test are sufficient during the live agent efficacy testing phase. When an efficacious decontaminant is found and is ready to be formulated into a product, a more extensive toxicologic program including a 2-week dermal toxicity study, a skin sensitization study, and an inhalation study (for aerosol or powder formulations) should be implemented before clinical trials.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000931:Antidotes / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000633:toxicity*; D002619:Chemical Warfare Agents / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors*; D003877:Dermatitis, Contact; D005123:Eye / Q000187:drug effects; D005260:Female; D007509:Irritants; D007700:Kinetics; D008297:Male; D009153:Mutagens; D011817:Rabbits; D051381:Rats; D012867:Skin / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D000931:Antidotes; D002619:Chemical Warfare Agents; D007509:Irritants; D009153:Mutagens