LD-50 variation

[IrRegularjoe]

Does anyone know why theLD-50 changes depending on whether it's a mouse, rat or rabbit?

 

[InTheAirTonight]

I'm sure there's a scientific reason but it just comes down to different biologies/evolution

 

[last_tour]

They can't use humans to test the LD-50... so its really just an approximation, humans might die from lower doses.

 

[Suez]

Does anyone know why theLD-50 changes depending on whether it's a mouse, rat or rabbit?

LD stands for "Lethal Dose". In Toxicology the Median Lethal Dose is called the The LD50 , which is the amount of a material, given all at once, which causes the death of 50% (one half) of a group of test animals. The LD50 is one way to measure the short-term poisoning potential (acute toxicity) of a material.
Toxicologists can use many kinds of animals but most often testing is done with rats and mice. It is usually expressed as the amount of chemical administered (e.g., milligrams) per 100 grams (for smaller animals) or per kilogram (for bigger test subjects) of the body weight of the test animal.

They can't use humans to test the LD-50... so its really just an approximation, humans might die from lower doses.

That is true, but animal LD50 data can be applied to humans. So if we include specific safety factors in such calculations and allow for the variability between individuals and how they react to a chemical, and allow for the uncertainties of experiment test results we could come up with a fairly true LD50 for a human. Anything is possible in Science...says she the Scientist.