What term refers to a pesticide's capacity to cause injury over short or long-term exposure?

The term that accurately describes a pesticide's capacity to cause injury over both short and long-term exposure is toxicity. Toxicity refers to the inherent harmful effects a substance can have on living organisms, and this concept encompasses the potential for adverse health impacts resulting from exposure to the pesticide.

Understanding toxicity is critical in the context of safety and regulatory practices, as it helps identify how a pesticide may affect human health, wildlife, and the environment depending on the exposure duration and concentration. Toxicity is usually assessed in terms of laboratory studies and results can vary based on different exposure scenarios.

In contrast, the other terms relate to different aspects of risk and safety assessment. Poisoning typically indicates an immediate harmful effect from a dose of a toxic substance. Risk involves the probability of adverse effects occurring from exposure, which takes into account both the toxicity and the likelihood of exposure. Hazard reflects the inherent potential of a substance to cause harm, but it does not specify the degree (i.e., short-term or long-term) of injury that may occur.