This hormesis trend allowed a major concept in toxicology, the dose-response relationship to be found, and significantly developing toxicology. The term hormesis is defined as “the phenomenon or condition of a substance or other agent having a beneficial physiological effect at low levels of exposure even though toxic or otherwise harmful at higher levels”. In the nineteenth century a Spanish physician, Mathieu Orfila (1787-1853), is often referred to as the founder of toxicology. Orfila was...
This hormesis trend allowed a major concept in toxicology, the dose-response relationship to be found, and significantly developing toxicology. The term hormesis is defined as “the phenomenon or condition of a substance or other agent having a beneficial physiological effect at low levels of exposure even though toxic or otherwise harmful at higher levels”. In the nineteenth century a Spanish physician, Mathieu Orfila (1787-1853), is often referred to as the founder of toxicology. Orfila was the first to establish a systematic correlation between the chemical and biological properties of poisons, as well as demonstrating the effects of poisons on specific organs. He was able to conduct these studies by analyzing the autopsy materials for poisoning and their associated tissue damage. These revelations were published within the first book to formally address toxicology by its name, Toxicology générale, in the year 1813.