Scientific information on toxicology has always been one of the most popular as evidenced by countless publications in our country and abroad. Due to the fact that the impact of chemicals on the human body is, to some extent, the subject of study of the vast majority of branches of medical science, toxicology articles have constantly appeared in journals specialized in other areas. This most likely explains that in the Soviet period there was no specialized toxicological journal in the country and the journal «Pharmacology and Toxicology» published mainly pharmacological works. In 1991 the word «Toxicology» disappeared from the journal’s title, thus putting an end to the possibility of publishing scientific toxicological works in a specialized magazine. The problem was very painful because in scientific institutes of our country the considerable material requiring the publication has been collected during the Soviet period.

Here it is necessary to make some retreat and to remind that in 1992 in the Russian Federation, for the first time in the country, the system of the State registration of potentially hazardous chemical and biological substances and the specialized institution, the Russian Register of Potentially Hazardous Chemical and Biological Substances have been created. From the first days of functioning of the system it became clear that successful activities could only be realized if receiving information necessary and sufficient to carry out this work would be established. Therefore, the creation of a modern electronic database on chemicals and a scientific and practical journal reflecting the state of toxicology and the associated chemical safety problems were set as priorities. It was clear to the organizers of this work that the creation of a modern database is a complex and time-consuming process, whereas for the release of the journal it was enough to have material resources and qualified personnel.

As a result of favorable circumstances, it was decided to start publication of the journal «Toxicological Review», the first issue of which was released in June 1993. The journal’s editorial board included leading toxicologists from Russia and the Commonwealth countries. Substantial support for the creation of the journal was provided by the existing State Committee on Sanitary and Epidemiological Surveillance represented by the Chairman E.N. Belyaev and First Deputy S.V. Semenov. From the day the magazine was founded it was headed by the Editor-in-Chief - B.A. Kurlyandsky, since 2018 – by Kh.Kh. Khamidulina.

The first year was rather difficult because there was no publishing experience and the number of proposals significantly exceeded the capabilities of the team especially as the journal was designed as versatile, reflecting all directions of modern toxicology: clinical, preventive, military, ecological, etc. The correctness of the decision has been confirmed from the first issues of the journal. So, articles devoted to clinic of acute poisonings, prevention of intoxications, and assessment of toxicity and regulation of substances, toxicological informatics were published. From the first steps the magazine widely published information on events in science and in the field of chemical safety in our country and abroad, the international congresses, conferences, meetings.

It should also be said that in the last years of the existence of the USSR, a great deal of material concerning the assessment of the toxicity of substances and requiring the publication has been accumulated in various institutions. This was the basis for the creation of the special section “New information on the toxicity and hazard of chemicals”, which is still the main source of information for Rospotrebnadzor and industrial enterprises.

Prominent Soviet toxicologists permanently collaborated with the journal, many of them are not with us today, but the memory of them is strong and light in our hearts. We left: G.G. Avilova, E.A. Babayan, I.I. Baryshnikov, N.M. Vasilenko, I.D. Gadaskina, S.N. Golikov, G.A. Gudzovsky, V.N. Dagayev, A.I. Elkin, G.N. Zaeva, V.G. Zoryan, Yu.S. Kagan, A.I. Korbakova, B.A. Kurlyandsky, V.V. Kustov, S.A. Kutsenko, E.N. Levina, N.A. Horseman, B.I. Lyubimov, Yu.I. Musiychuk, V.B.Prozarovsky, A.V. Roshchin, I.V. Sanotsky, N.Yu. Tarasenko, L.A. Tiunov, V.A. Filov, M.P. Chekunova, G. B. Steinberg, V.Ya. Shulga. Our journal is proud that these scientists honored the journal «Toxicological Review» by publishing their works on its pages.

The multidisciplinary nature of the journal’s publications along with the positive results created certain difficulties, which included the differences between the scientific interests of authors and readers. Therefore, from the first issues of the journal, along with the informational one, the goal was to convince the reader of the need to understand the commonality of the processes occurring during the interaction of a biological substrate with a chemical substance and that the intoxication model created at various levels of the organization can provide an opportunity to extrapolate the results obtained to the whole organism, moreover, not only in experimental conditions, but also in the clinic. The editorial board of the journal has always attached great importance to the publication of discussion articles, causing ambiguity of opinions and professional interest. The start was made by E.A. Luzhnikov with the article “Myths and reality in acute poisoning by mushrooms”. The reason for writing this article was the speculative statements around the massive mushroom poisonings in some regions of Russia. The discussion was timely, correctly orienting clinicians to an understanding of the causes of intoxication, treatment and prevention methods. The articles of I.V. Sanotsky, G.N. Krasovsky, N.A. Egorova, N.N. Litvinov, I.M. Trachtenberg, G.I. Sidorin and other authors have been the subject of much debate. The number of subscribers to the journal increased significantly with the beginning of publication of the papers on environmental toxicology along with articles on traditional problems of clinical, preventive, and drug toxicology. Ecotoxicological works, articles on this topic drew special attention because they supported the readers with the information on actual problems and gave an opportunity for general biological discussion in terms of understanding the mechanisms of intoxication and the development of alternative research methods. For seventeen years E.A. luzhnikov and clinical toxicologists, I. V. Sanotsky, G. N. Krasovsky, B. A. Katsnelson and other, took an active part in the work of the journal. The papers devoted to the problems of the chemical weapons destruction, treatment and prevention of poisonings with highly toxic chemicals have been published by V. A. Tambovsky, A. Radilov, V. N. Petrov, S. P. Nechiporenko, B. N. Filatova and their coworkers. The articles on drug toxicology occupied a large place in the subject of the journal. These are works by T.A. Guskova, A.D. Durneva, I.V. Berezovskaya and some other authors. It is pleasant to note that over the years, representatives of all regions of Russia dealing with toxicology and chemical safety took part in the work of the journal. The portfolio of the journal is not limited to the works of Russian scientists. Toxicologists from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Ukraine actively cooperate with us. Especially we would like to note and thank for the active and long-term cooperation the prominent Soviet and Ukrainian toxicologist I.M. Trachtenberg. The editorial board expresses hope for further development and strengthening of this cooperation. The special sections devoted to the modern problems draw attention of toxicologists and industry. These are the information on toxicity and hazardous of new chemicals, permissible doses and concentrations, normative and technical documentation, on significant events in our country and abroad. A great success and proof of the recognition of the journal was its inclusion in the VAK list for printing of works on the topic of dissertations. For many years, to support the young scientists the journal holds a competition for the best paper with a cash prize to winners. Due to the close cooperation with the All-Russian Public Organization of Toxicologists all four recent congresses of toxicologists and decisions made at them have been covered in detail on the pages of the journal. It would be possible to write much more about the activity of the «Toxicological Review», however, we understand that much more needs to be done to raise its scientific and intellectual level and to improve the form. We are well aware that the most important thing is not to lose the sense of progress, understanding of the main trends in the development of science in our country and abroad. It is not a simple task as the level of world science continuously grows much more outpacing the richest imagination. The staff of the journal and its Editorial Board is well aware that the main task of the “Toxicological Review” is to promote the development of the domestic toxicological science, and all our aspirations are directed towards this. Round dates not only inspire, but also make you think about the future. Let us thank the staff of the journal, the Editorial Board and all those who collaborated with us and, above all, our dear readers and subscribers.