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Spheres of Influence
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20 Years of Toxicology Brandy E. Fisher Abstract
With over 80,000 chemicals being used in commerce worldwide, it is important to identify the human health effects of these chemicals and the levels of exposure at which they are harmful to humans. In order to address this need, the National Toxicology Program (NTP) was established in 1978 ; since then, the NTP has become the world's leader in designing, conducting, and interpreting various types of toxicity assays. The scientific data generated by the NTP are used to help establish regulatory guidelines, such as safe occupational exposure levels, and formulate policy decisions made by state and federal agencies as well as private organizations. The NTP has tested nearly 500 chemicals for carcinogenicity and identified many as known or reasonably anticipated carcinogens. But as the NTP enters its third decade, it is increasingly devoting more resources to studying human health effects beyond cancer, and has made significant advances in the study of areas such as the reproductive system and human development, genetic toxicology, neurotoxicology, inhalation toxicology, immunotoxicology, exposure to electric and magnetic fields, and health effects of pharmaceutical agents as well as natural products.
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