Here proposed is a series of three Workshop Conferences aimed at examining new and emerging methods for safety evaluation of chemicals; these Workshops lead to published reports in book form. These are conducted by the Scientific Group on Methodologies for the Safety Evaluation of Chemicals, an international organization sponsored by the International Programme on Chemical Safety (IPCS) of the World Health Organization (WHO) which includes the International Labor Organization (ILO) and United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) and the Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment (SCOPE) of International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU). The Group has an international membership which encourages the review of difficult problems relating to methods for evaluating the effects of chemicals on human and non-human biota. These Workshops result in books composed of commissioned, individually authored papers and a Joint Report. The first Workshop (now available from Wiley Publishing Company) dealt with Methods for Assessing the Effects of Chemicals on the Reproductive Functions; the second, about to be published, dealt with Quantitative Risk Assessment; the third, completed in August, 1983, is now in final editing and deals with Methods for Assessing the Effects of Mixtures of Chemicals; the fourth, completed in August, 1984, is also in final editing and covered the Predictive Value of Short-Term Tests for Non-Genotoxic Effects. Candidate topics are proposed by the Executive Committee of SGOMSEC and chosen in consultation with the Sponsors. Normally, one such Workshop is held each year following 8-10 months of preparatory writing by the invited contributors. A main objective is the specific identification of research needs for the improvement of methods for the safety evaluation of chemicals.
