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AAT Bioquest

What is the difference between LD50 and TD50?

Posted April 9, 2021


Answer

LD stands for Lethal Dose. LD50 is the amount of a toxic substance which, when given all at once, causes the death of 50% of a group of test organisms. 

TD stands for Toxic Dose. TD50 is the median toxic dose of a substance at which toxicity occurs in 50% of the cases.

A substance that is toxic is not necessarily lethal. Some toxic substances may cause some degree of damage to an organism but they do not cause its death. The TD50 of a substance is usually lower than its LD50. In most cases, the LD50 is considered as the upper limit for the TD50.

Additional resources

Generation of TD 50 values for carcinogenicity study data

LD50 Calculator

TD50 Calculator