Concise International Chemical Assessment Docments (CICADS)
Are the latest in a family of publications from the International
Programme on Chemical Safety (IPCS) - a cooperative programme of
the World Health Organization (WHO), the International Labour
Organisation (ILO), and the United Nations Environment Programme
(UNEP). CICADs join the Environmental Health Criteria documents
(EHCs) as authoritative documents on the risk assessment of
chemicals.
CICADs are concise documents that provide summaries of the
relevant scientific information concerning the potential effects
of chemicals upon human health and/or the environment. They are
based on selected national or regional evaluation documents or on
existing EHCs. Before acceptance for publication as CICADs by
IPCS, these documents have undergone extensive peer review by
internationally selected experts to ensure their completeness,
accuracy in the way in which the original data are represented,
and the validity of the conclusions drawn.
The primary objective of CICADs is characterization of
hazard and dose-response from exposure to a chemical. CICADs are
not a summary of all available data on a particular chemical;
rather, they include only that information considered critical
for characterization of the risk posed by the chemical. The
critical studies are, however, presented in sufficient detail to
support the conclusions drawn. For additional information, the
reader should consult the identified source documents upon which
the CICAD has been based.
Risks to human health and the environment will vary
considerably depending upon the type and extent of exposure.
Responsible authorities are strongly encouraged to characterize
risk on the basis of locally measured or predicted exposure
scenarios. To assist the reader, examples of exposure estimation
and risk characterization are provided in CICADs, whenever
possible. These examples cannot be considered as representing
all possible exposure situations, but are provided as guidance
only. The reader is referred to EHC 170 for advice on the
derivation of health-based guidance values.
While every effort is made to ensure that CICADs represent
the current status of knowledge, new information is being
developed constantly. Unless otherwise stated, CICADs are based
on a search of the scientific literature to the date shown in the
executive summary. In the event that a reader becomes aware of
new information that would change the conclusions drawn in a
CICAD, the reader is requested to contact the IPCS to inform it
of the new information.