Customer Reviews

Casarett & Doull's Toxicology: The Basic Science of Poisons, 6th Edition

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This is a book by and for professional toxicologists. Folks in the field have long regarded it as the standard. It is the primary text for most graduate programs in toxicology around the world. I own editions 2, 4 and now 7. Despite some of the rather uninformed reviews below, it does keep getting better with each subsequent edition. And note the dates on some of the other reviews, they refer to earlier editions. Number 7 just came out in November.

I cannot compare the 7th edition to number 6 but I can say that relative to number 4 the introductory chapters are much improved. The first three chapters provide a solid overview of the History of Toxicology, Principles of Toxicology and Mechanisms in Toxicology. The only thing missing here is a chapter similar to Shan Gad's excellent treatise on Statistics in Toxicology found in A. W. Hayes' "Principles and Methods of Toxicology" (which you should also own). Andrew Parkinson's chapter, Biotransformation of Xenobiotics, is by itself worth the purchase price, and the chapter on Toxicokinetics is one of the best short discussions of this subject I have seen. The book then has chapters on Chemical Carcinogenesis, Developmental Toxicology and toxicology related to various organ systems. As with any large text written by a group of experts in a particular field these chapters are variable in quality and sometimes tend to emphasize the research interests of the individuals writing the chapter. I found the chapter on hepatic toxicology terse and inadequate considering the importance of this organ system. The chapters on pulmonary and renal toxicology are stronger. With the exception of the chapter on metals, the other chapters on Toxic Agents are far from comprehensive. The topics of animal venoms, plant toxins, radiation and pesticides really require books of their own but the treatment here is adequate for the entry-level graduate student. The chapter on Regulatory Toxicology is most informative if about as exciting as watching paint peel.

The book does contain a very few factual errors, but this is not surprising in a book this size written by so many people. It does not make the book any less valuable for the toxicologist. It would be next to impossible for Dr. Klaassen to police completely such a massive text. That said, the editing (and certainly the printing) has not yet approached the level of sophistication found in such texts as Goodman and Gilman or Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine. The book still cries for greater internal consistency and the imposition of standards that lead the individual chapter authors away from their personal interests (I had an advisor once that taught four lectures to medical students on cyanide, he was the expert) and more toward general principles and practice. There is also a glaring lack of information about the now not so new advances in molecular toxicology; some of the authors need a few new arrows in their quivers. But, the single worst fault of the book is the index or serious brevity there of. For example, the chapter on ocular toxicology describes the classic Draize test over nearly two pages yet the word Draize is nowhere to be found in the index. It lists very few chemicals. This lack of a comprehensive index seriously limits the usefulness of the book as a reference. You already have to know a lot of toxicology to find what you are looking for in the text.

If you aspire to be a toxicologist (and you should), buy this book. If you desire to become a Diplomate of the American Board of Toxicology (and you should), buy this book - many of the exam questions come directly from it. Once you really know enough to understand its flaws you will probably be a toxicologist.

I found this to be an outstanding and thorough treatment of the entire gamut of toxicology. The book is well organized, with a very logical sequence of chapters. Each chapter is authored by recognized experts in the various subspecialties of toxicology, such as neurotoxicology. The principles and model systems of each specialty are discussed in detail. This text contains no fluff. I recommend it for graduate level students and above, though ambitious undergraduates may find it useful as well. My only suggestions for improvement would be updated figures and a glossary of terms. I sometimes found that authors of the earlier chapters would use terms which were not defined until later chapters. Overall, this is an excellent reference--well worth the price.

Mr. Klassen did a very good job with the sixth edition of the classical Casarett and Doull`s. This is not a book for people scared of details, complex subjects and very long chapters. The book is not what I would call an easy read but I don't think that it should be anyway. Chapters cover diverse topics in a very complete manner, and as another reviewer said this is a book intended for advanced undergraduate courses or graduate toxicology courses. Only buy this book (which by the way is pretty expensive) if you intend to do research or work directly with toxicology. One final note, this is not a book oriented for the clinical setting. If you are a MD or health professional intending to use a book in the toxicological ER you should buy Goldfrank's Toxicologic Emergencies (which is a great book by the way).

This is a must have for the studying ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYST who is determined to KNOW HIS/HER HOMEWORK! As a reference book after course studies and during basic chemistry course fulfillment at the University level, this text is the "command level" of performance. One can not approach correction of injury without knowing the point source and characteristics of the contamination. KNOWING WHERE TO LOOK puts you half way there. The technically squemish need not open the cover. (this is a level 500-600 college textbook) ...textbook referred by chemist/scientist, William Martz

While this classic toxicology textbook has certainly improved over previous editions as far as having more illustrations and tables to summarize vast amounts of information are concerned, I am continually frustrated by the rather anemic content of the Index. No, "anemia" is not listed in the Index nor is cyanide, acrylonitrile or half the terms I routinely need to look up. I know the info is in there, so I have to spend countless minutes guessing which chapter it may be located. Very frustrating. Bizarrely, I have Goggled a term and one of the hits was in C&D (Amazon site) and the next thing I knew I was looking at the page with the terms highlighted (no, the term wasn't in the Index). Is this the way one should find info in this book? Hopefully, the next edition will be available electronically (DVD) or have a lot more substantial Index. Sixteen pages of Index does not cut it for a 1300 page book that is just crammed with info. My old Fourth edition has 33 pages of Index for a 1000 page book. Back to Google......

This seventh edition of 'Casarett & Doull's Toxicology: the Basic Science of Poisons' is a solid piece of science work. It is comprehensive, and broad at the same time. The approach and content will make this book extremely useful for scientists across disciplines. It has been designed as a text for graduate courses, though I bought this for my own reference and learning. I have a medical toxicology interest, but this book has allowed me to discover concepts and expand on theories and principles independently. I think the book is a great text, and an invaluable resource for those with an interest in toxicology.

Excellent and indispensable summary when original version is missing.
I just felt a few more ilustrations are needed but like it is, this booklet brought to my memory many important details.

I have every C&D from the 3d edition. I bought this copy solely to study for the DABT exam. Imagine my surprise when I stat to look for citations in the index, and things like formaldehyde and methylene chloride are not there at all, even though there's a full page on MC in the book. While the index of the 6th edition is 39 pages, this one only has 16. If you are buying this to read full chapters, you're probably OK, but if you're looking up specific items, good luck. After full satisfaction with 4 editions in a row, they really went cheap on this one.

For a wide spectrum study of toxicology, this book is excellent. Casarett & Doull's Toxicology far surpasses its goal of serving as a reference for toxicologists, making for a great graduate level text book.

This edition is a great disappointment after the previous editions, up to and including Edition 6. It remains useful enough, perhaps as a student text, but as a source book it's usefulness has been seriously compromised. I seriously recommend buying the 6th edition instead.