Existing chemicals: international activities.

The standards of care used in the protection of the health and safety of people exposed to chemicals has increased dramatically in the last decade. Standards imposed by regulation and those adopted by industry have required a greater level of knowledge about the hazards of chemicals. In the E.E.C., the 6th amendment of the dangerous substances directive imposed the requirement that al new chemicals should be tested according to prescribed programme before introduction on to the market. The development of a European inventory of existing chemicals was an integral part of the 6th amendment. It has now become clear that increased standards of care referred to above must be applied to the chemicals on the inventory list. There is, however, a considerable amount of activity already under way in various international agencies. The OECD Chemicals Programme has been involved in considering the problem of existing chemicals for some time, and is producing a priority list and action programme. The International Programme on Chemical Safety produces international chemical safety cards, health and safety guides and environmental health criteria documents. The international register of potentially toxic compounds (part of UNEP) has prepared chemical data profiles on 990 compounds. The International Agency for Research on Cancer prepared monographs on the carcinogenic risk of chemicals to man. So far 42 volumes have been prepared covering about 900 substances. IARC and IPCS also prepare periodic reports on ongoing research on carcinogenicity or toxicity (respectively) of chemicals. The chemical industry through ECETOC (the European Chemical Industry Ecology and Toxicology Centre) has mounted a major initiative on existing chemicals. Comprehensive reviews of the toxicity of selected chemicals are published (Joint Assessment of Commodity Chemicals). In its technical report no. 30 ECETOC lists reviews and evaluations by major national and international organisations, which provides an index of activity in this area. Considerable progress is now being made in the evaluation of the toxic hazards of chemicals according to modern standards both by international governmental and industrial organisations.