Jump to content

Talk:The dose makes the poison

Page contents not supported in other languages.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Claim made not contained in reference linked

[edit]

The extraordinary claim that smaller doses can cause more toxic effects than large doses is not found in the link provided. 2600:8807:8780:1920:B962:8F37:5E26:8873 (talk) 21:33, 15 October 2018 (UTC)BGriffin[reply]

The reference says, verbatim "However, scientists have discovered that very low doses of some compounds can induce stronger toxic responses than much higher doses". -- Finlay McWalter··–·Talk 23:32, 15 October 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Broken logic

[edit]

Re. the following consecutive statements:

a) "It [the adage] means that a substance can produce the harmful effect associated with its toxic properties only if it reaches a susceptible biological system within the body in a high enough concentration (i.e., dose)."

b) "The principle relies on the finding that all chemicals—even water and oxygen—can be toxic if too much is eaten, drunk, or absorbed."

This makes no sense. The idea that substances must be present at some minimum level to cause harm has no relation, except by confusion, to the idea that all substances can harm if they exceed some maximum level. The latter could be true and the former false. Or both could be true. Neither idea "relies on" or bears any other logical relation to the other. Lgilman909 (talk) 02:10, 4 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

The first statement is not indicating that, as you put it, "substances must be present" in order to be toxic, rather, the point is that all substances are safe (even the most toxic substance known to man) below some dosage, and that they only become toxic at or above that dosage. There is no broken logic. Joe (talk) 10:19, 4 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]