Toxicological Principles Do Not Support the Ban on Chlorine. This commentary appeared in Fundamental and Applied Toxicology 24:1-2, 1995. (Abstracted by Art Craigmill, UCD) In a recent commentary summarizing the Society of Toxicology position relating to a proposed ban on chlorine, Dr. Meryl Karol, President of the Society of Toxicology, states that the society "views these proposals as being contradictory to the principles on which the science of toxicology is based." She goes on to state the primary principle of toxicology: the dose makes the poison. The commentary states that the proposal to ban chlorine and all chlorinated chemicals is both simplistic and impossible since more than 1500 natural chemicals which contain chlorine have been identified as of 1992. She relates that much of the concern about chemicals which contain chlorine is due to the large amount of research that has been done on certain compounds, and that any move to replace these compounds (about which we know a lot) should not be done until the replacement compounds have been studied as extensively. The SOT position is that the toxicity of chemicals must be assessed individually and that targeting a single class for elimination (especially such a broad class) is not responsible or scientifically sound. "Therefore, SOT takes the position that a broad-based ban of the class of chemicals containing chlorine, or any other element for that matter, would be both irresponsible and unscientific."