LD50, 50% Lethal Dose: An LD50 value is the amount of a solid or liquid

material that it takes to kill 50% of test animals in one dose. LC50 (50% lethal
concentration) is a related term used for gases, dusts, vapors, mists, etc. The
dose may be administered orally (by mouth), or injected into various parts of the
body. The value is usually reported along with the administration method. Both
LC50 and LD50 values state the animal used in the test. This is important, because
animal toxicity studies do not necessarily extrapolate (extend) to humans. For
example, dioxin (of Love Canal, Times Beach, Sveso, and Agent Orange fame)
is highly toxic to guinea pigs and ducklings at extremely low levels, but has
never been conclusively linked to a single human death even at very high levels
of acute (short term) exposure. However, it is best to err on the safe side when
evaluating animal toxicity studies and assume that most chemicals, that are toxic
to animals, are toxic to humans. Typical units for LD50 values are milligrams or
grams of material per kilogram of body weight (mg/kg or g/kg, recall that 1 kg
= 2.2 pounds). Never be exposed to an LD50 dose of a hazardous chemical- by
definition, there is a 50% chance this will kill you...and if you survive you are
not going to be in good shape. Pay close attention to the permissible exposure
level (PEL) instead. This is a more realistic determination of the maximum safe
exposure to a material and is usually based on the known effects of the chemical
on humans, rather than laboratory animals.