Toxicology
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Currently, the regulation of complementary and alternative medicines and related health claims in Australia and New Zealand is managed in a number of ways. Complementary medicines, including herbal, minerals, nutritional/dietary supplements, aromatherapy oils and homeopathic medicines are regulated under therapeutic goods/products legislation. The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), a division of the Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing is responsible for administering the provisions of the legislation in Australia. ⋯ Related Australian and New Zealand legislation is being developed to implement the joint scheme. Once this legislation is passed, the Treaty will come into force and the new joint regulatory scheme will begin. The agency is expected to commence operation no later than 1 July 2006 and will result in a single agency to regulate complementary and alternative medicines.
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On 1 January 2004, Health Canada officially added a new term to the global list of synonyms for dietary supplements: natural health products (NHP). Developed with the intent of providing Canadian consumers with ready access to NHP that are safe, effective, and of high quality, the Natural Health Products Regulations (the NHP regulations) are applicable to the sale, manufacture, packaging, labelling, importation, distribution, and storage of NHP, and are administered by the recently formed Natural Health Products Directorate (NHPD) within Health Canada. This paper provides an overview of the process for regulating supplement products in Canada.
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The U. S. Food and Drug Administration's regulatory authority over health claims was clarified in 1990 legislation known as the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act (NLEA). ⋯ Courts have since extended the scope of health claims to include qualified health claims (QHC) that are health claims not substantiated on evidence that meets the level of SSA standard, but include a qualifying statement intended to convey to the consumer the level of evidence for the claim. FDA has responded by developing an evidence-based ranking system for scientific data to determine the level of evidence substantiating a health claim. The following is an overview of FDA's regulations and evidence-based method for evaluating health claims.
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Di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) is added to polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastics used widely in medical devices and toys to impart flexibility and durability. DEHP produces reproductive and development toxicities in rodents. Initial metabolism of DEHP in animals and humans results in mono(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (MEHP), which subsequently metabolizes to a wide range of oxidative metabolites before being excreted in urine and feces. ⋯ We report the presence of urinary DEHP metabolites in humans that have fewer than eight carbons in the alkyl chain. These metabolites were previously identified in rodents. Although quantitative information is not available, our findings suggest that, despite potential differences among species, the oxidative metabolism of DEHP in humans and rodents results in similar urinary metabolic products.
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Chemical and biological warfare agents constitute a low-probability, but high-impact risk both to the military and to the civilian population. The use of hazardous materials of chemical or biological origin as weapons and for homicide has been documented since ancient times. The first use of chemicals in terms of weapons of mass destruction goes back to World War I, when on April 22, 1915 large amounts of chlorine were released by German military forces at Ypres, Belgium. ⋯ In the following time, the development of increasing range delivery systems by chemical and biological agents possessors sensitised public attention to the threat emanating from these agents. Their proliferation to the terrorists field during the 1990s with the expanding scale and globalisation of terrorist attacks suggested that these agents are becoming an increasing threat to the whole world community. The following article gives a condensed overview on the history of use and development of the more prominent chemical and biological warfare agents.