Preface

The eighth edition of Casarett and Doull's Toxicology: The Basic Science of Poisons, as the previous seven, is meant to serve primarily as a text for, or an adjunct to, graduate courses in toxicology. Because the seven previous editions have been widely used in courses in environmental health and related areas, an attempt has been made to maintain those characteristics that make it useful to scientists from other disciplines. This edition will again provide information on the many facets of toxicology, especially the principles, concepts, and modes of thoughts that are the foundation of the discipline. Mechanisms of toxicity are emphasized. Research toxicologists will find this book an excellent reference source to find updated material in areas of their special or peripheral interests.

The design of the eighth edition has been changed markedly, in that for the first time the figures and tables are presented in full color to allow for clearer interpretation of the basic concepts throughout the text. The rainbow of colors used in this edition makes this edition much more “user-friendly.” Each book will come with a DVD with image bank features of all illustrations and tables from the text in a presentation-ready format. The book will also be available in a variety of eBook formats for all popular devices such as iPad and Kindle.

The overall framework of the eighth edition is similar to that of the seventh edition. The seven units are “General Principles of Toxicology” (Unit I), “Disposition of Toxicants” (Unit II), “Non-Organ-Directed Toxicity” (carcinogenicity, mutagenicity, and teratogenicity) (Unit III), “Target Organ Toxicity” (Unit IV), “Toxic Agents” (Unit V), “Environmental Toxicology” (Unit VI), and “Applications of Toxicology” (Unit VII).

This edition reflects the marked progress made in toxicology during the last few years. For example, the importance of apoptosis, cytokines, growth factors, oncogenes, cell cycling, receptors, gene regulation, transcription factors, signaling pathways, transgenic animals, “knock-out” animals, “humanized” mice, polymorphisms, microarray technology, genomics, proteonomics, epigenetics, etc, in understanding the mechanisms of toxicity is included in this edition. More information on environmental hormones is included. Two new chapters have been added to this edition, namely the “Toxic Effects of Calories” and the “Toxic Effects of Nanoparticles.” References in this edition include not only traditional journal and review articles, but internet sites too. (Readers who would like a Power-Point version of the figures and tables can obtain the same from the publisher.)

The editor is grateful to his colleagues in academia, industry, and government who have made useful suggestions for improving this edition, both as a book and as a reference source. The editor is especially thankful to all the contributors, whose combined expertise has made possible a volume of this breadth. I especially recognize John Doull, the original editor of this book, for his continued support.