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Toxicological Sciences 56, 253-254 (2000)
Copyright © 2000 by the Society of Toxicology

Profiles in Toxicology

Gerhard Zbinden, 1924–1993

Hanspeter Witschi1

ITEH, University of California, Davis, One Shields Avenue, Davis, California 95616

Received September 3, 1999; accepted September 7, 1999

"Significance of the LD50 Test for the Toxicological Evaluation of Chemical Substances." Such was the title of a paper published in 1981 in the Archives of Toxicology. The senior author was Gerhard Zbinden. The paper was written as a response to increasing numbers of government regulations in many countries. Determination of the LD50 for an ever-expanding number of chemicals became part of routine toxicity-testing requirements, which often necessitated the use of large numbers of laboratory animals, including higher species such as dogs or monkeys. A critical analysis of this development was called for, particularly as to what extent the LD50 test really was warranted or useful.

According to Zbinden, the LD50 test was first introduced in 1927, when it was used for the standardization of important, but also highly toxic and possibly fatal drugs such as insulin, digitalis extracts, and diphtheria toxins. Because the potency of these drugs might . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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