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This document provides proposed guidance on writing about toxicology, including sourcing requirements and presentation of toxicology content on Wikipedia. This applies to all content about toxicology and toxic substances.
Wikipedia's goal to produce an encyclopedia includes writing about the levels at which substances are hazardous to human health. This poses a few challenges:
Discussion of the toxicity of substances should rely exclusively on review articles or other forms of high-level analysis. Do not use clinical research directly if possible. All sources must be peer reviewed.
In general, the information presented should provide information useful to casual readers as well as experts, with enough context provided. When presenting information on the toxicity of a substance, be sure to include:
If research in animals is included, demonstrate how the research applies to humans, if at all.
Avoid stating that a substance is "toxic" without any additional information. Different substances are toxic to different people at different exposure levels, and certain groups are more likely to be exposed at those amounts than others.