Why would a compound like chlordane with an LD50 in humans a

Why would a compound like chlordane, with an LD50 in humans at 30 mg/kg be more toxic than in rats at 335 mg/kg? Include an explaination based on xenobiotic metabolism.

Solution

LD50 which stands for the lethal dose, which is equal to the amount of a material given all at once causes the death of 50% of a group of test animals. This is one way to measure the short-term poisoning potential of a material.

Usually compounds like chlordane testing is most often done with rats or mice by toxicologists. It is usually expressed as the amount of chemical administered per 100 gms or per kilogram of the body weight of test animal.

It is also important to know that actual LD50 value may be different for a given chemical depending on the route of exposure.

In humans, 30mg/kg of body weight would be more toxic as you have to consider the weight of the person. If the person weighs 50 kg, so the amount administered would be 1.5gms.

While a rat weighs on average 100-150 gms and if you administer the same compound at 335mg/kg of body weight. You will only be giving around 33.5 - 40mg of the same compound.