Purchase J F
Pol J Occup Med. 1989;2(4):337-49.
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.
在过去十年中，用于保护接触化学品人员健康和安全的护理标准大幅提高。法规规定的标准以及行业采用的标准要求对化学品危害有更深入的了解。在欧洲经济共同体，《危险物质指令》的第六次修订要求所有新化学品在投放市场之前应按照规定程序进行测试。编制欧洲现有化学品清单是第六次修订的一个组成部分。现在已经很清楚，上述提高的护理标准必须适用于清单上的化学品。然而，各个国际机构已经在开展大量活动。经济合作与发展组织化学品计划已经关注现有化学品问题一段时间了，并正在制定一份优先清单和行动计划。国际化学品安全方案编制国际化学品安全卡片、健康与安全指南以及环境卫生标准文件。国际潜在有毒化合物登记册（环境规划署的一部分）已经编写了990种化合物的化学数据简介。国际癌症研究机构编写了关于化学品对人类致癌风险的专论。到目前为止，已经编写了42卷，涵盖约900种物质。国际癌症研究机构和国际化学品安全规划处还分别编写关于化学品致癌性或毒性的正在进行研究的定期报告。化工行业通过欧洲化学工业生态毒理学中心（ECETOC）针对现有化学品发起了一项重大行动。发表了对选定化学品毒性的全面审查（商品化学品联合评估）。欧洲化学工业生态毒理学中心在其第30号技术报告中列出了主要国家和国际组织的审查和评估，这提供了该领域活动的一个索引。目前，国际政府组织和工业组织都在按照现代标准对化学品的毒危害进行评估方面取得了相当大的进展。
