Environmental Health Criteria
Encyclopedia
Environmental Health Criteria (EHC) is a series of monographs prepared by the International Programme on Chemical Safety
(IPCS) and published by the World Health Organization
(WHO). They aim to give "comprehensive data from scientific sources for the establishment of safety standards and regulations." More than 230 EHCs have been published.
Many EHCs cover the properties of individual chemicals or of groups of related chemicals (see, e.g., EHC 65: Butanols). Since 1998, this role has mostly been taken over by the related Concise International Chemical Assessment Document
s (CICADs), also prepared by the IPCS and published by the WHO. EHCs can also cover non-chemical (potential) hazards (see, e.g., EHC 35: Extremely low frequency (ELF) fields) and methodology (see, e.g., EHC 144: Aged Population, principles for evaluating the effects of chemicals).
EHCs are based on a search of the scientific literature, and do not include new experimentation (unlike, e.g., SIDS
or EU-RARs) although they may contain recommendations for further studies. A typical monograph on a chemical substance would include:
Monographs do not contain specific guidelines for regulations (although they might contain examples of national exposure limits, for example), and they do not constitute an official position of the WHO or of any of the other organizations participating in the IPCS.
International Programme on Chemical Safety
The International Programme on Chemical Safety was formed in 1980 and is a collaboration between three United Nations bodies—the World Health Organization, the International Labour Organization and the United Nations Environment Programme to establish the scientific basis for safe use of...
(IPCS) and published by the World Health Organization
World Health Organization
The World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health. Established on 7 April 1948, with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the agency inherited the mandate and resources of its predecessor, the Health...
(WHO). They aim to give "comprehensive data from scientific sources for the establishment of safety standards and regulations." More than 230 EHCs have been published.
Many EHCs cover the properties of individual chemicals or of groups of related chemicals (see, e.g., EHC 65: Butanols). Since 1998, this role has mostly been taken over by the related Concise International Chemical Assessment Document
Concise International Chemical Assessment Document
Concise International Chemical Assessment Documents are published by the World Health Organization within the framework of the International Programme on Chemical Safety...
s (CICADs), also prepared by the IPCS and published by the WHO. EHCs can also cover non-chemical (potential) hazards (see, e.g., EHC 35: Extremely low frequency (ELF) fields) and methodology (see, e.g., EHC 144: Aged Population, principles for evaluating the effects of chemicals).
EHCs are based on a search of the scientific literature, and do not include new experimentation (unlike, e.g., SIDS
Screening Information Dataset
A Screening Information Dataset is a study of the hazards associated with a particular chemical substance or group of related substances, prepared under the auspices of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development...
or EU-RARs) although they may contain recommendations for further studies. A typical monograph on a chemical substance would include:
- the physicalPhysical propertyA physical property is any property that is measurable whose value describes a physical system's state. The changes in the physical properties of a system can be used to describe its transformations ....
and chemical propertiesChemical propertyA chemical property is any of a material's properties that becomes evident during a chemical reaction; that is, any quality that can be established only by changing a substance's chemical identity...
of the substance and analytical methodsAnalytical chemistryAnalytical chemistry is the study of the separation, identification, and quantification of the chemical components of natural and artificial materials. Qualitative analysis gives an indication of the identity of the chemical species in the sample and quantitative analysis determines the amount of...
for determining concentrationConcentrationIn chemistry, concentration is defined as the abundance of a constituent divided by the total volume of a mixture. Four types can be distinguished: mass concentration, molar concentration, number concentration, and volume concentration...
s and exposure; - sources of environmental and industrial exposure and environmental transport;
- chemobiokinetics and metabolismMetabolismMetabolism is the set of chemical reactions that happen in the cells of living organisms to sustain life. These processes allow organisms to grow and reproduce, maintain their structures, and respond to their environments. Metabolism is usually divided into two categories...
including absorptionAbsorption (Pharmacokinetics)In pharmacology , absorption is the movement of a drug into the bloodstream.Absorption involves several phases...
, distributionDistribution (pharmacology)Distribution in pharmacology is a branch of pharmacokinetics which describes the reversible transfer of drug from one location to another within the body....
, transformationChemical transformationIn chemistry a chemical transformation shows the conversion of a substrate to a product omitting the reagents and catalysts or underlying reaction mechanism as opposed to a chemical reaction...
and eliminationClearance (medicine)In medicine, the clearance is a measurement of the renal excretion ability. Although clearance may also involve other organs than the kidney, it is almost synonymous with renal clearance or renal plasma clearance. Each substance has a specific clearance that depends on its filtration characteristics...
; - short and long term effects on animals, including carcinogenicity, mutagenicity, and teratogenicity;
- an evaluation of risks for human health and of the effects on the environment.
Monographs do not contain specific guidelines for regulations (although they might contain examples of national exposure limits, for example), and they do not constitute an official position of the WHO or of any of the other organizations participating in the IPCS.