We would like to remind you that thousands of chemical safety documents are available for free at one site on the Internet.

The International Programme on Chemical Safety's (IPCS) INCHEM service, www.inchem.org, became free of charge to people around the world via the Internet beginning in June 2001. This service now offers quick and easy access to thousands of searchable full-text documents from international bodies on chemical risks and chemical risk management. Countries will thus be helped in fulfilling the commitments they made at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) toward the environmentally sound management of chemicals.

IPCS INCHEM directly responds to one of the Intergovernmental Forum on Chemical Safety (IFCS) priority actions to consolidate current, internationally peer-reviewed, chemical safety-related publications and database records from international bodies, for public access.

IPCS INCHEM is produced through cooperation between IPCS (a joint activity of the International Labour Organization, the World Health Organization and the United Nations Environment Programme) and the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS).

The IPCS INCHEM collection currently includes Environmental Health Criteria (EHC) monographs, Concise International Chemical Assessment Document (CICADS), Health and Safety Guides (HSGs), International Chemical Safety Cards (ICSCs), IPCS/EC Evaluation of Antidotes Series, JECFA (Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives) monographs and evaluations, JMPR (Joint Meeting on Pesticide Residues) monographs and evaluations, Pesticide Data Sheets (PDSs), Poisons Information Monographs (PIMs), Screening Information Data Set (SIDS) for High Production Volume Chemicals, CIS Chemical Information (ILO/CIS) and International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) Summaries and Evaluations. More chemical safety information from international bodies will be added progressively to the collection.

Offering this service without charge allows individuals, especially those from developing countries or those working in organizations with limited resources, and even the general public, access to a vast amount of chemical safety information.

The IPCS INCHEM Programme was developed in 1997 as a cooperative undertaking between IPCS and CCOHS. The IPCS INCHEM Programme is based at CCOHS.

For further information, please contact:

Melinda Henry,Office of the Spokesperson, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland. Tel: (41) 22 7912535. Telefax: (41) 22 7914858. E-mail: henrym@who.int, or

Eleanor Irwin, Manager, Marketing, Sales and Communications, CCOHS, Canada. Tel: (1) 800 6684284 (ext. 4408 ) from Canada and the United States or (1) 905 5722981 (ext. 4408) from other countries. E-mail: eleanori@ccohs.ca.