Description

Environmental Health Criteria (EHC) documents provide international, critical reviews on the effects of chemicals or combinations of chemicals and physical and biological agents on human health and the environment.

Each EHC follows a standard outline or format, and you can expect to find a summary of the whole document followed by information on identity, sources of exposure, environmental transport, distribution and transformation, environmental levels and human exposure, kinetics and metabolism in laboratory animals and humans, effects on laboratory animals and in vitro test systems. Effects on humans; effects on other organisms in the laboratory and field. An overall evaluation and conclusions for the protection of human health and the environment is found at the end of each document together with needs for further research and details of previous evaluations by international bodies e.g. IARC, JEFCA.

Two different series of Environmental Health Criteria (EHC) documents are available:

• 1) on specific chemicals or groups of related chemicals; and
• 2) on risk assessment methodologies.

In addition the EHCs on risk assessment methodologies are accessible from the listing of all IPCS methodology publications and projects.