The American Academy of Clinical Toxicology (AACT) is a

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

multidisciplinary Interdisciplinarity or interdisciplinary studies involves the combination of multiple academic disciplines into one activity (e.g., a research project). It draws knowledge from several other fields like sociology, anthropology, psychology, ec ...

health association that promotes

research Research is " creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness ...

, education, prevention, and treatment of diseases caused by

chemicals A chemical substance is a form of matter having constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Some references add that chemical substance cannot be separated into its constituent elements by physical separation methods, i.e., wit ...

. Its membership consists of clinical and research toxicologists, physicians,

veterinarians A veterinarian (vet), also known as a veterinary surgeon or veterinary physician, is a medical professional who practices veterinary medicine. They manage a wide range of health conditions and injuries in non-human animals. Along with this, vet ...

nurses Nursing is a profession within the health care sector focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life. Nurses may be differentiated from other health c ...

pharmacists A pharmacist, also known as a chemist ( Commonwealth English) or a druggist (North American and, archaically, Commonwealth English), is a healthcare professional who prepares, controls and distributes medicines and provides advice and instru ...

, analytical chemists,

industrial hygienists Occupational hygiene (United States: industrial hygiene (IH)) is the Anticipate, recognize, evaluate, control, and confirm, anticipation, recognition, evaluation, control, and confirmation (ARECC) of protection from hazards at work that may resul ...

, poison information center specialists, and allied professionals. The brainchild of Eric Comstock, a physician from

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

who opened a clinical

toxicology Toxicology is a scientific discipline, overlapping with biology, chemistry, pharmacology, and medicine, that involves the study of the adverse effects of chemical substances on living organisms and the practice of diagnosing and treating e ...

laboratory shortly after the passage of the Hazardous Substances Labeling Act (1960), AACT was founded in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

in 1968 by a group of physicians and

scientists A scientist is a person who conducts scientific research to advance knowledge in an area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, philosophers engaged in the philosophica ...

who had a common interest in poisoning. In 1974, AACT played a crucial role in establishing the American Board of Medical Toxicology (today the American College of Medical Toxicology) to allow for physicians to be board certified as clinical toxicologists. (Clinical Toxicology was formally recognized by the

American Board of Medical Specialties Established in 1933, the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) is a non-profit organization which represent 24 broad areas of specialty medicine. ABMS is the largest physician-led specialty certification organization in the United States ...

in 1992.) In 1985, AACT established the American Board of Applied Toxicology (ABAT), which certifies non-physicians who are experts in toxicology.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:American Academy Of Clinical Toxicology Medical associations based in the United States Medical and health organizations based in Virginia Toxicology organizations

See also

References