The Dose Makes the Poison

Dose & exposure

The Dose Makes the Poison, explained simply

Almost anything can be harmful at a high enough dose — and almost anything can be harmless at a low one.

Examples

Water, vitamin A, iron and caffeine are essential or harmless at normal intakes and harmful at extreme ones.

Units matter

A substance at parts per billion is a very different situation from grams per day.

Route matters

Eating, breathing in and skin contact lead to very different exposures.

Evidence & sources

Connected topics

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General education only, not medical advice. Drafted Oct 2026 · pending qualified expert review.