The LD50 is usually expressed as the mass of substance administered per unit mass of test subject, typically as milligrams of substance per kilogram of body mass, sometimes also stated as nanograms (suitable for botulinum), micrograms, or grams (suitable for paracetamol) per kilogram. Stating it this way allows the relative toxicity of different substances to be compared and normalizes for the variation in the size of the animals exposed (although toxicity does not always scale simply with body mass).
Comment on How can i make myself poisonous to mosquitos?
j4k3@lemmy.world 3 months agoWhat does LD50 even mean?
SatansMaggotyCumFart@lemmy.world 3 months ago
BackOnMyBS@lemmy.autism.place 3 months ago
Dose needed to kill half the number of individuals or animals of a species that take it. So if 100 people took this substance, what would be the dose needed to kill 50 of them. Same for mosquitos.
valaramech@fedia.io 3 months ago
This is, effectively, how oral flee/tick medications work in animals. It basically turns the animal's blood into a mild poison. The poison is mild enough that it doesn't affect the animal but it's enough to kill small insects like flees, ticks, or mosquitoes.