Current OECD activities relating to the Hazard Assessment of Chemicals

Abstract

The OECD Hazard Assessment Project was initiated by the Chemicals Group in December 1979, a time when the early phase of the OECD Chemicals Programme was essentially drawing to an end with major products such as draft Guidelines for Testing of Chemicals and the Minimum Pre-marketing set of Data (MPD). MPD constitutes a package of data which would normally be sufficient to allow a meaningful first assessment of the potential hazard of a chemical at the premarketing stage. It was thought important, once MPD had been proposed, to start a hazard assessment project based on MPD. In fact, the Expert Groups which developed the draft Test Guidelines had in many cases discussed principles for interpretation of test results-with respect to individual MPD parameters, but also integrated interpretation of such parameters. OECD has been working with chemicals control since the beginning of the 1970s. Initially, actions within the Organisation were concentrated on individual chemicals such as mercury and PCBs, but soon questions about testing and assessment of chemicals in general became the major target of the work. The somewhat limited scope of the OECD Hazard Assessment Project and the national and international needs which constitute the driving force for such a Project will be discussed. But first I would like to stress that in its Chemicals Programme OECD has always attempted to use the best available science as a basis for its policy actions. Therefore, it is with great interest that the Organisation follows activities such as the present symposium, so timely convened by IAES and SECOTOX. I am confident that the experts gathered here in London have added substantially to our knowledge of the current scientific basis for hazard assessment, and that the OECD Project will benefit from this. Initially, the work under the Hazard Assessment Project is being carried out in