The First International Conference on Environmental Mutagens on Human Populations was held successfully in Cairo, Egypt during 1992. The Conference engendered formation of the Pan African Environmental Mutagen Society, produced new research support for a number of participating scientists and sparked international collaborations. Since the last meeting, there are increased global concerns for health effects from environmental contamination. Moreover, as newly declassified information from the former Soviet Republics has come to light since 1992, the enormity of the pollution problems in those areas has surfaced. These concerns argue strongly for a second conference. Prague, Czech Republic, was chosen to be the location for the second conference. The overall objective of the second conference is t? update and enhance our awareness of human health problems which are caused by environmental toxicants.
The specific aims of the conference are: to provide a global platform for addressing environmental health problems, to identify factors which predispose individuals to develop health effects, to highlight investigations into the mechanisms of health problems, to focus on the contamination problems in the former Soviet Union, to facilitate participations by scientists from Eastern and Asian Republics, and to foster international collaborations. In addition to the standard symposium and poster presentations, several technical topics which require special attention will be addressed in Forum presentations. The meeting program has been developed and speakers have been identified with the help of an International Advisory Board. The organization of the meeting is the responsibility of two experienced co-chairmen with the assistance of an experienced local organizing committee. As has been successfully done before, there will be organized gatherings to facilitate interactions among participants. In addition, a monograph for the meeting will be produced and each participants who has contributed manuscripts will be provided a copy of the monograph. The meeting has already received registrations from scientists from academia, scientists from industries, officials from regulatory agencies, students and technicians. Such enthusiastic response will ensure interactions among scientists, dissemination of information and success of the conference.
