ABSTRACT
Managing public concerns relating to chemical exposures can consume substantial public health resources, particularly as the scientific basis around these issues is often contentious. Toxicology remains underrecognized as a public health discipline in Australia, although Australian toxicologists are making significant contributions from academia, government, and the commercial sector toward assessing the level of risk and protecting the community from environmental hazards. Internationally, the growth of environmental toxicology and the promotion of sound science in risk assessment as a basis for making regulatory decisions have been, to some extent, driven by the outcomes of the 1992 UNCED Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio Summit) and its Chapter 19 Agenda 21 activities. The promotion of safe chemical management practices and the need for global strengthening of capabilities in toxicology are among the initiatives of the Intergovernmental Forum on Chemical Safety (IFCS), which was formed after the Rio Summit to manage these programs. This article describes some of the initiatives in capacity building that marked the development of environmental toxicology in Australia since 1992 in response to these international environmental health initiatives.
Subject(s)
Environmental Health/organization & administration , Toxicology/organization & administration , Australia , Congresses as Topic , Conservation of Natural Resources , Environmental Monitoring/methods , Government Agencies , Health Care Surveys , Humans , Public Health Administration , Resource Allocation/methods , Risk Assessment/methodsABSTRACT
The intention of this proposal is to describe principles for Good Evaluation Practice (GEP) of toxicological and risk evaluations with the aim to improve the quality, reliability, and transparency of any evaluation in toxicology. The GEP has been outlined in the same way as the principles for Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) to facilitate its introduction and compliance. The main characteristic of GEP is transparency. The GEP procedure should include the following elements: (1) definition of terms; (2) description of evaluation organization; (3) description of the quality assurance of the programme; (4) description of the standard evaluation procedures; (5) performance of the evaluation; (6) reporting of the evaluation; (7) storage and retention of records and material; and (8) guidelines for the evaluation procedure. The authors' intent is to raise awareness, stimulate a debate about the proposal, expect and welcome feedback in order to refine it, and make it into an important tool for all toxicological evaluations in the future.
