Chronic toxicity is the adverse effects occurring as a result of the repeated daily exposure of experimental animals to a chemical by the oral, dermal, or inhalation routes of exposure.
Cumulative toxicity is the adverse effects of repeated doses occurring as a result of prolonged action on, or increased concentration of, the administered test substance or its metabolites in susceptible tissue.
Dose in a chronic toxicity study is the amount of test substance administered daily via the oral, dermal or inhalation routes for a period of at least 12 months. Dose is expressed as weight of the test substance (grams, milligrams) per unit body weight of test animal (milligram per kilogram), or as weight of the test substance in parts per million (ppm) in food or drinking water per day. For inhalation exposure, dose is expressed as weight of the test substance per unit volume of air (milligrams per liter) or as parts per million per day. For dermal exposure, dose is expressed as weight of the test substance (grams, milligrams) per unit body weight of the test animal (milligrams per kilogram) or as weight of the substance per unit of surface area (milligrams per square centimeter) per day.
No-observed-effects level (NOEL) is the maximum dose used in a study which produces no adverse effects. The NOEL is usually expressed in terms of the weight of a test substance given daily per unit weight of test animal (milligrams per kilogram per day).
Target organ is any organ of a test animal showing evidence of an effect induced by a test substance.
40 C.F.R. §799.9410