Statistical Models in Toxicology

Book excerpt: Statistical Models in Toxicology presents an up-to-date and comprehensive account of mathematical statistics problems that occur in toxicology. This is as an exciting time in toxicology because of the attention given by statisticians to the problem of estimating the human health risk for environmental and occupational exposures. The development of modern statistical techniques with solid mathematical foundations in the 20th century and the advent of modern computers in the latter part of the century gave way to development of many statistical models and methods to describe toxicological processes and attempts to solve the associated problems. Not only have the models enjoyed a high level of elegance and sophistication mathematically, they are widely used by industry and government regulatory agencies. Features: Focuses on describing the statistical models in environmental toxicology that facilitate the assessment of risk mainly in humans. The properties and shortfalls of each model are discussed and its impact in the process of risk assessment is examined. Discusses models that assess the risk of mixtures of chemicals. Presents statistical models that are developed for risk estimation in different aspects of environmental toxicology including cancer and carcinogenic substances. Includes models for developmental and reproductive toxicity risk assessment, risk assessment in continuous outcomes and developmental neurotoxicity. Contains numerous examples and exercises. Statistical Models in Toxicology introduces a wide variety of statistical models that are currently utilized for dose-response modeling and risk analysis. These models are often developed based on design and regulatory guidelines of toxicological experiments. The book is suitable for practitioners or as use as a textbook for advanced undergraduate or graduate students of mathematics and statistics.