You'll usually see it buried in a lawsuit, denial letter, or lawyer call: "potential toxic tort claim," "toxic tort litigation," or "injury arising from chemical exposure." Strip away the legal packaging, and it means a civil case claiming that a person got sick, injured, or died because they were exposed to a dangerous substance. That substance might be asbestos, mold, industrial solvents, pesticides, contaminated water, smoke, or workplace chemicals. The fight is usually over three things: what the person was exposed to, whether that exposure actually caused the illness, and who should pay.

These cases are ugly because the damage often shows up late and the proof is expensive. A broken leg after a crash is obvious. Cancer, lung disease, nerve damage, or chronic poisoning after years around chemicals is not. That means stacks of medical records, exposure history, expert opinions, and usually a hard battle over causation, damages, and the defendant's notice of the hazard.

For a South Carolina injury claim, timing can get vicious. The general personal injury statute of limitations is three years under S.C. Code § 15-3-530, but toxic exposure cases often turn on the discovery rule in S.C. Code § 15-3-535, which can start the clock when the injury reasonably should have been discovered. Miss that window, and even a strong case can die before it starts.