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Paracelsus – the father of modern toxicology – famously said ‘Poison is in everything, and no thing is without poison. The dosage makes it either a poison or a remedy.’ But how do we decide what that dose is? And how do we ensure that we are only exposed to ‘safe’ levels of chemicals? Indeed, what is ‘safe’? This is the role of the Toxicologist – to assess the risk of chemical exposure to health, and where necessary to develop approaches to manage that risk to a level that is acceptable.
We live in an ever-changing chemical soup, constantly exposed to chemicals that could harm – or indeed heal – us. Professor Nick Plant talked about his experiences advising Government over the last two decades. Through a series of anecdotes, ranging from plasticisers in cling film to airplane fume events, he summarised how potential risks to human health are identified, assessed, and then, if necessary, mitigated. He pointed out that decisions are rarely black and white and that trade-offs are often made between risk and practicality. Finally, he explored the evolutionary arms race, and how escalating toxic chemicals and defence mechanisms across the animal and plant kingdoms provide both new threats but also new possibilities for medical breakthroughs.
(Apologies for the distracting interruptions from a member of the online audience.)
Professor Nick Plant is the Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research and Innovation at the University of Leeds. In this role he is responsible for the development, and subsequent delivery, of the University’s research and innovation strategy, creating a research culture and environment which delivers high quality research and impact for the region and beyond.
Professor Plant is a toxicologist with 25 years’ experience of collaborating with industry, governments, and academia to help predict how the body responds to chemical challenge. His scientific contributions in this area were recognised by enrolment as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology in 2016. He served full terms on the Committee on Toxicity of chemicals in food, consumer products and the environment (2007-2017) and the MHRA Pharmacovigilance expert advisory group (2011-2017) and is currently member of the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA). He has a long-standing relationship with the National Centre for the Replacement, Reduction and Refinement of Animals in research (NC3Rs), having served on the Grant Assessment and Fellowship panels (2013-2017) and the 3Rs Prize Panel (2018). He is currently the Chair of the Partnership and Impact Assessment Panel (2021-2026), and a member of the NC3Rs Board (2021-2026).
