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We need to look more at what happens when chemicals enter the body and at the range of effects they might have. Toxicologists often quote a 16th Century Swiss doctor, Paracelsus, to illustrate that it is incorrect to divide chemicals into those which are toxic, and those which are not. Paracelsus said, "All substances are poisons; there is none which is not a poison. The right dose differentiates a poison and a remedy." Certain substances, including some naturally occurring plant and animal poisons, are lethal at tiny doses. Others, such as some of the things we eat, drink, or work with, can be lethal but only in massive quantities.

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