In medicine, the term is usually applied to a deliberate exposure to an agent for therapeutic purposes; in toxicology it may refer to the amount of a harmful agent to which something is exposed.
In medicine, the term is usually applied to the quantity of a drug or other agent administered for therapeutic purposes. In toxicology dose may refer to the amount of a harmful agent (such as a poison, carcinogen, mutagen, or teratogen), to which an organism is exposed.