Toxicosis describes the detrimental effects of uptake of a toxin into the body. The terms acute and chronic basically concern the time scales over which this uptake of the toxin occurs. Acute exposure to a toxin occurs over short time scales, such as over hours or days. Very often, acute exposure is exposure to high doses, that can often cause dramatic health effects. Very often, acute effects to a toxin include death. In contrast, chronic exposure occurs over longer time scales, such as weeks, months or years. Much lower doses are required to result in chronic effects, and these effects are often sub-acute effects such as reduced growth or reproduction.
