It is the responsibility of the applicant to demonstrate to the Board that the eligibility requirements have been met. Any deviation from the requirements must be submitted to the Board for approval.

One of the following three combinations of education and experience are necessary to meet the eligibility requirements for admission to the Certification Examination.

1. An applicant must possess an earned doctoral degree in an appropriate field and have at least three (3) years of full-time professional post-doctoral experience (or part-time equivalent thereof) in toxicology after official conferral of the doctoral degree. The three years of experience must be after the date on which the doctoral degree was awarded officially. Having completed all requirements for the degree, but not having received the degree will NOT suffice.

2. An applicant must possess an earned master's degree in an appropriate field and have at least seven (7) years of full-time professional post-baccalaureate experience (or part-time equivalent thereof) in toxicology.

3. An applicant must possess an earned bachelor's degree in an appropriate field and have at least ten (10) years of full-time professional post-baccalaureate experience (or part-time equivalent thereof) in toxicology.

Degree designations are based on United States degree requirements. Applicants holding foreign degrees who are unsure of the appropriate U.S. equivalent may contact the ABT office for guidance.

Scholastic work towards a higher degree is not considered to be professional level experience. Individuals working toward a higher degree while employed full-time in the practice of toxicology will receive credit for the employment as years of experience if full time employment can be documented, but this experience will be applied to the eligibility requirements for the lower degree

Years of experience shall be determined using the actual date the applicable academic degree is awarded and not the date degree requirements were completed. The degree must have been awarded at least 3, 7, or 10 years prior to June 30 of the year of application.

The applicant must have full-time involvement in the practice of toxicology within the year immediately prior to the date of application.

With respect to experience in the practice of toxicology, a candidate should have carried out one of the following functions: designed and managed toxicological experiments, interpreted results and translated them to identify and solve human and animal health problems. It is not sufficient that the candidate work with or for toxicologists. The applicant must be responsible for the professional toxicological work conducted. These experiences should account for the majority of "time in professional practice" used to support the application.

A candidate need not necessarily actually produce or develop the data that is used in assessing and evaluating toxicity. With an appropriate educational background and/or previous toxicology experience, a candidate may be engaged in interpreting data generated by others and then may use this data and information to synthesize a comprehensive toxicity assessment. With sufficient documentation of educational training and/or specific experience, such a candidate could be eligible to take the examination. Likewise, because of the broad scope of toxicology, it should not be expected that all qualified candidates be engaged in the design, conduct, evaluation and interpretation of toxicity studies. Sufficient evidence should be provided that there is an understanding of such studies, the best evidence being a prior history of having been personally engaged in the conduct of toxicity studies.

Being engaged in activities such as environmental monitoring, exposure monitoring, biological monitoring, monitoring of workers, etc. in and of itself does not constitute the practice of toxicology. If the results from these activities are utilized by the candidate in a broader context of assessing toxicity and if the candidate's educational background and/or previous experience indicates appropriate training in toxicology, monitoring activities and application of their results may constitute the practice of toxicology.

For a candidate engaged in data reviews of existing toxicity information, identification of toxicity data gaps, identification of structure-activity relationships of potentially toxic chemicals, maintaining data bases, development of risk assessment methodologies, preparation of health assessment documents, etc., the application must unequivocally document that the candidate utilizes the information in an integrative fashion in the broad context of a comprehensive toxicology evaluation. Reviewing data and simply preparing warning labels for a product using a "by the numbers" approach does not constitute the practice of toxicology, nor does simply maintaining a data base and publishing the results. Developing risk assessment methodologies by applying the data and then adjusting the mathematical model parameters without demonstrated understanding of the data or the broader aspects of toxicology does not constitute the practice of toxicology.

Providing managerial guidance or consulting support for specific clients or for purposes of litigation could include defining toxicity, hazard and risk, dose-response evaluation, duration of exposure and evaluation of toxicity data to assess the likelihood of adverse effects associated with exposure to potential toxicants. In these cases, appropriate educational training and/or experience in previous or other job activities may provide the necessary link to judge that the applicant is engaged in the active practice of toxicology. Merely translating the jargon of the various sciences into layman's terminology does not constitute the practice of toxicology.