Toxicology is the study of poisoning and the damaging physiologic effects of exposure to xenobiotics.

• A. The clinical management of poisonings.
• B. The synthesis of poisonous compounds.
• C. The study of poisoning and toxic effects of xenobiotics.
• D. The regulation of toxic substances.

Answer: (C)

Toxicology is the study of how foreign chemicals cause harm in living systems, including the poisoning process and the toxic effects that arise from exposure to xenobiotics. This definition directly captures the discipline’s focus on understanding harm, dose–response, mechanisms, and risk from chemicals outside the body.

The choice describing the clinical management of poisonings fits into toxicology as a practical application, but it’s not the defining scope of the field. The synthesis of poisonous compounds is a chemistry-oriented activity, not the study of their effects. Regulation of toxic substances belongs to safety science and policy, not the core investigation of toxic effects in biological systems.

So the best answer is the one that states toxicology is the study of poisoning and the toxic effects of xenobiotics.