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Principles and Methods of Toxicology
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3rd edition. AW Hayes; ed. 1488 pages. New York: Raven; 1994. $125.00. ISBN 0-78-170-1317. Order phone 212-930-9500.
The dual purpose of this massive book is to serve as a core textbook for general and advanced courses in toxicology and as a comprehensive source for practicing toxicologists; the book fulfills these goals admirably. Because of the comprehensive coverage of fundamental principles and applied methods of toxicology and the extensive treatment of the various topics by qualified authors, Principles and Methods of Toxicology has become one of the two or three leading current single-volume source books in toxicology.
This edition appeared 5 years after the second edition, which was only 929 pages in length, and its expansion directly reflects the correspondingly rapid development and growth of the science of toxicology. Most of the 83 contributing authors are practicing toxicologists; 40 did not contribute to previous editions.
In deference to the book's role as a textbook, chapters on the history of toxicology, the use of toxicology in the regulatory process, and statistics for toxicologists are included. The 38 chapters are organized into three functional sections: principles of toxicology, agents of toxicity, and methods of toxicity. The latter section predominates; it has 25 chapters and about 60% of the total pages. New chapters on toxicokinetics and on the toxicologic assessment of pharmaceutical and biotechnologic products have been added to the section on principles of toxicology. Additions to the section on methods of toxicity include new material on methods in environmental toxicology and on instrumental methods for studying mechanisms of toxicity. All chapters have extensive references. This reviewer assessed one of the shorter core chapters ("Issues in Chronic Toxicology") to compare documentation in this and in the previous edition. In 1989, the chapter had 13 pages and 13 references, the most recent of which was dated 1987. The chapter now has 22 pages and 59 references, the most recent of which is dated 1993. That pattern holds for other revised chapters; several have more than doubled their references and include ample recent information. Thus, this book covers much of the existing knowledge and practice in toxicity testing by various means.
A price is paid for the massive expansion of the book: This edition is so large that it is difficult to handle. Systemic toxicology, such as that of the respiratory system or the kidney, is addressed mostly in the context of experimental techniques, and relatively brief attention is paid to biomarkers of toxic damage. Many references are more than a quarter of century old, and the book now costs $125.00. Some important areas of toxicology practice are omitted entirely as discrete topics (for example, forensic toxicology, analytic toxicology, occupational toxicology, and clinical toxicology).
The book is recommended for graduate courses in general toxicology and for practicing toxicologists, especially those in industry. It will be most useful to those toxicology practitioners who are engaged in "bench" and animal-model testing of toxicity. For physicians concerned with principles of clinical toxicology and the manifestations of toxic exposures in humans, other current texts on medical toxicology are more relevant and easier to use.
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