With a huge variety of products and chemicals being constantly manufactured, industrial toxicologists are employed in a wide range of companies. In a large company they may specialise in a particular area, such as genetic or reproductive toxicology, pathology, clinical biochemistry, toxicokinetics or ecotoxicology. On the other hand, a small company might employ only one industrial toxicologist, who would need a broader understanding of all aspects of toxicology.
Nowadays, few companies have laboratory facilities to conduct their own toxicology studies so, when there is insufficient safety information about a chemical in their product, industrial toxicologists may also oversee toxicology studies that are conducted by specialised contract research organisations (CROs). Larger companies sometimes form trade associations so that they can work collaboratively to solve issues that affect all businesses in an industry. For example, European regulations have set a deadline for animal testing to be phased out for cosmetic ingredients, toxicologists in many cosmetics companies have been working hard and collaborating with each other to try to develop alternatives to animal testing. In the meantime, Oroxcell has set up alone, or partnership with industrials novel assays to circumvent current critical issues for evaluating specific substances or toxicological end points, in the absence of animal models.
