American Board of Toxicology, Inc. – ABT

Alert Notice:

ABT Exam event on October 15, 2024 is a test center event only.

The American Board of Toxicology confers recognition upon those members of the profession who meet standards for professional competency in the field of general toxicology.

The Diplomate of the American Board of Toxicology® (DABT) credential is awarded to individuals who have met the eligibility requirements for admission to and passed the ABT certification examination.

For information on the ABT Certification program, please visit https://www.abtox.org.

The ABT Candidate Handbook contains valuable information regarding the Certification program, including eligibility requirements, the application process, applicable fees, exam content, reference lists, exam administration logistics, and recertification requirements. All candidates should carefully review the handbook prior to the application process.

The ABT Certification examination is administered in person at Pearson VUE’s global network of brick-and-mortar Exam Centers (with locally compliant social distancing and sanitizing protocols in place), using the Exam Center’s computer equipment and internet connection.

Your Candidate ID # and Client Authorization ID # (as they appear on your Authorization to Test (ATT) notice) are required to schedule your exam.

How to Apply and Become Eligible for Certification

Before scheduling your exam appointment, you must apply for certification via the ABT website at https://www.abtox.org, be found eligible, and receive an Authorization to Test (ATT) notice (which contains your Candidate ID # and Client Authorization ID #) from ABT. Full details about the process are available on the ABT website and in the Candidate Handbook.

Your first (given) name and last (family) name as listed on your ATT notice must EXACTLY MATCH your first name and last name as those appear on a currently valid, government-issued photo identification bearing your signature, which you must present at the exam center. If there are any discrepancies during check-in, the proctor will not allow you to take the exam, you will be considered a “no show,” and the examination fee will be forfeited and a year of eligibility lost. If your name does NOT exactly match, please email ABT at candidates@metacred.com at least thirty (30) days prior to your test date.

Special Accommodations

Any special accommodations for testing must be submitted to the ABT office at the time of initial application, as described in the Candidate Handbook.

Scheduling your Exam

Your Candidate ID # and Client Authorization ID # (as they appear on your Authorization to Test (ATT) notice) are required to schedule your exam. These will be sent via email approximately 7-14 days after the examination fee is paid on the ABT website. Notice to pay the examination fee is sent via email to eligible candidates. The examination fee is due by August 31. The deadline to schedule your examination at a testing center is September 11, 2023.

If you encounter any challenges scheduling your examination appointment, please email candidates@metacred.com for assistance.

Your first (given) name and last (family) name as listed on your ATT notice must EXACTLY MATCH your first name and last name as those appear on a currently valid, government-issued photo identification bearing your signature, which you must present at the exam center. If there are any discrepancies during check-in, the proctor will not allow you to take the exam, you will be considered a “no show,” and the examination fee will be forfeited and a year of eligibility lost.

If your first name and last name on your ATT Notice and the identification you will use to check in for the exam do NOT exactly match, please email ABT at candidates@metacred.com at least thirty (30) days prior to your test date. Please note that it is acceptable to have (a) middle name(s) or initial(s) which appear(s) on your identification but not on your ATT Notice (or vice versa). You do not need to modify your exam registration to add or delete middle names; only the first name and last name must match exactly.

Candidates are encouraged to schedule their examination as soon as they receive the Authorization to Test (ATT) notice from Pearson VUE. Availability of exam appointments at test centers in specific locations cannot be guaranteed.

To schedule your exam, please click the “Sign in” button in the sidebar of this webpage. If you are a first-time exam taker with Pearson VUE, you will need to first click on the “Create account” button.

To locate an exam center prior to scheduling your exam appointment, please click on the “Find a test center” link in the sidebar of this webpage. Please note that this shows exam sites only. It does not guarantee there will be seats available when you register after receiving your Authorization to Test Notice.

If you encounter any challenges scheduling your examination appointment, please email candidates@metacred.com for assistance.

After scheduling your exam, please review your appointment confirmation email and ensure that you have the correct exam, date, time, first name and last name matching your government ID, and testing location.

The Authorization to Test notice is valid for the current year’s examination administration only.

Rescheduling/ No-Shows

Reschedule Policy

Exams can be rescheduled for the current year to a different exam center only, contingent upon exam appointment availability. You must contact Pearson VUE or access your online Pearson VUE account (by clicking “Sign in” in the sidebar of this webpage) to reschedule your exam to a different exam center at least 48 hours prior to your appointment. Exams cannot be rescheduled less than 48 hours prior to (that is, within 48 hours of) your appointment. Failure to reschedule in time or failure to appear for your appointment will result in the forfeiture of your exam fee.

No-Show Policy

Failure to appear on time for your examination appointment will result in forfeiture of the examination fee.

Candidates who do not appear for their scheduled examination appointment will need to pay the exam fee again in a future year and will receive a new ATT Notice with a new Client Authorization ID #. In addition, if this is your third year of eligibility, you will need to reapply. Full details can be found in the Candidate Handbook.

Refund Policy

The exam fee is non-refundable and non-transferable to future years.

What to Bring to the Exam Appointment

We ask that you arrive at the test center 30 minutes before your scheduled appointment time. This will give you adequate time to complete the necessary sign-in procedures. If you arrive more than 15 minutes late for your appointment, you may be refused admission, and the exam fees will be forfeited.

You will be required to present one form of original (no photocopies), currently valid (unexpired), government-issued identification that includes your name, photograph, and signature. The first and last name that you used to register must match exactly the first and last name on the identification that is presented on test day as described in the Scheduling Your Examination section above.

All identification presented must be issued by the country in which you are testing; alternatively, if you do not have a qualifying identification issued from the country in which you are testing, an International Travel Passport from your country of citizenship is required.

If possible, please bring a second government identification (that matches the same requirements as the primary identification) to your exam appointment, in case there is an issue with your primary identification.

Please note that Pearson, as a USA-based business, is not allowed to do business with OFAC-sanctioned countries / regions. Thus, candidates who live in the following sanctioned countries /regions—and candidates who present identification issued by those countries / regions—cannot be admitted to an exam appointment at a brick-and-mortar exam center.

  • Cuba
  • Iran
  • North Korea
  • Sudan
  • Syrian Arab Republic
  • The Sevastopol / Crimea region of Ukraine

If you have any questions or concerns about the identification you are required to bring with you to the testing center for admittance to your exam, please contact Pearson VUE customer service at https://home.pearsonvue.com/Test-takers/Customer-service.aspx. To view the full identification policy, including any additional allowances to this policy, please visit http://www.pearsonvue.com/policies/1.pdf.

No personal items may be taken into the testing room. This includes but is not limited to all: Bags, books, reference materials, papers, notes, dictionaries, cameras, cellular telephones, PDAs, computers or tablets, calculators, digital watches, scanners, other electronic or communications devices, and wallets.

No food or beverages are allowed in the testing area (exam room).

Unscheduled breaks are permitted during the exam. During an unscheduled break, the exam timer continues to run (i.e., the exam timer is not paused or extended, so any time used by a candidate during an unscheduled break is deducted from the candidate’s total exam time). During unscheduled breaks, a candidate may use the restroom at the exam center, and/or may be escorted to the candidate’s locker in the exam center to access medication, food, or water while being observed by exam center staff. No other personal items (including all communication devices, references, notes, etc.) may be accessed during unscheduled breaks. During unscheduled breaks, candidates may NOT leave the exam center at any time.

All personal items other than the identification document must be locked in a locker at the Exam Center (outside of the testing area), for exam security purposes.

Important Exam Day Reminders

By scheduling your exam, you are assuming the risk of and waiving ABT’s, Metacred’s, and Pearson VUE’s (and their respective contractors’, employees’, parent and subsidairy companies’, and affiliates’) liability for any harm or damages that you may suffer as a result of or in any way related to your exam administration, including without limitation acquiring the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus that causes COVID-19.

If you encounter any issue upon arrival at the exam center (e.g., the exam center is closed due to a local emergency), please call the Pearson VUE customer service telephone number for your region, listed at https://home.pearsonvue.com/abt/contact.

If you depart from exam center at any time during the exam, your exam will be terminated immediately, and your score will be based on the exam items you have completed up to that point in time.

You will have up to four (4) hours to complete the 160 examination questions.

Each page of the test has a timer which counts down the time remaining.

You will have the opportunity to “mark questions for review” and review those items prior to submitting the exam for scoring, as long as time is remaining.

Exam Results

Candidates will receive exam results directly from ABT.

Candidates who do not pass the exam and subsequently apply to retake the exam will receive a new ATT notice with a new Client Authorization ID #.

Last updated 2024-03-26