Testing of chemicals

Test Guidelines Programme

The OECD Guidelines for the testing of chemicals are a collection of the most relevant internationally agreed testing methods used by governments, industry and independent laboratories to assess the safety of chemicals. They are primarily used in regulatory safety testing and subsequent chemical notification and registration.‌‌

Good Laboratory Practice

‌The OECD Principles of GLP have been developed to promote the quality, validity and reliability of non-clinical test data used for determining the safety of chemicals and chemical products. OECD works to promote a common understanding of, and harmonised approaches to, matters related to GLP and monitoring of compliance with the GLP Principles.

Endocrine Disrupters

‌‌‌Endocrine disruptors are chemicals that may interfere with the body’s endocrine system and produce adverse developmental, reproductive, neurological, and immune effects in both humans and wildlife. Work on this has been given high priority for regulatory authorities in most OECD countries and it has been proposed by UNEP as a SAICM policy emerging issue. ‌‌

Animal welfare 

‌‌‌‌‌Over 25 years ago, the OECD recognised the need to protect animals in general and in particular those used in experimental work for chemical safety testing. The progress in OECD on the harmonisation of chemicals testing, in particular the agreement on Mutual Acceptance of Data (MAD), by reducing duplicative testing, will do much to reduce the number of animals used in testing‌‌‌‌

Cutting Costs in Chemicals ‌Mgt

As government regulators are facing tighter budgets and chemical companies need to cut costs, this report describes how, by working together through the OECD, governments and industry save about EUR 150 million each year, while still ensuring that chemical products are properly assessed and managed.‌‌