Poisoningcanpresentinvariousways.Doctorsaremostfamiliarwithacutecases,butpoisoningmaybechronic,fromsourcessuchastheenvironmeng,footandwatersuppoliesandthereleaseofindustrialwasteproducts.Poisoningmayalsobeclassifiedasaccidentalordeliberate(Figure1).Sourcesfromwhichinformationonpoisoningineidentscanbeobtaindeincludemortalitydataforaccidentalpoisoningandsuicide,hospitaladmissionofrdischargedata,andenquiriestopoisonsinformationservices.Inaddition,somecountriescollectseparateinformationonchemicalexposures.
