Short Information: Results of the “Programme”

As the first institution in Germany to recognise the necessity of primary prevention in the field of hazardous substances, the former BG Chemie (after 2010 its legal successor is BG RCI) in 1977 called into existence the “Programme for the Prevention of Health Hazards caused by Industrial Substances”. A committee consisting of representatives of the scientific community, the chemical industry and the authorities gave advice and support to the BG Chemie in selecting 325 substances for assessment and the necessary experimental studies. The BG Chemie initiated a total of 432 experimental studies for those 129 substances which could not be evaluated on the basis of the data from the literature. The majority of them were funded by the BG Chemie and several by the chemical industry. The BG Chemie’s expenditures alone totalled some 15 million euros. On account of the EU activities, the responsibility for the safety of the chemicals is transferred to the producers and importers. The BG Chemie has therefore successfully concluded its “Programme” after 25 years. In future the BG RCI will conduct toxicological studies only when there is reason to suspect that employees in Germany may be at risk despite the EU activities.

In all, Toxikologische Bewertungen in German are available in a short format (“short version”) for 245 substances and a detailed full-length format (“long version”) for 225 substances. They received the highest international acclaim and therefore English translations have been published as Toxicological Evaluations for 212 chemicals. The 37 long and 50 short-version evaluations published in 2000 as separate issues and booklets belonging supplements 15 and 16, together with 33 new long and short-version Toxikologische Bewertungen and 58 Toxicological Evaluations are successively being published on the internet starting April 2004, in keeping with modern technology and the needs of the target community. We hope that this will further enhance the benefit to users. The “General Introduction and Overview” will provide you with information on the “Programme”, the criteria used in selecting substances for evaluation, the results obtained, the experts involved, the experimental studies conducted and the Toxikologische Bewertungen / Toxicological Evaluations published.

General Introduction and Overview with detailed information about the "Programme"

List of substances with information about Toxicological Evaluations and experimental studies

List of substances

Synonyms of substances with Toxicological Evaluations (in alphabetical order)

You can reach the German-language version of the article with a single click on the flag-symbol.