Programmes and activities of the International Centre for Pesticide Safety

The International Centre for Pesticide Safety (ICPS) is a research unit of the National Health Service created by the Government of the Region of Lombardy at the proposal of the World Health Organization-Regional Office for Europe, in cooperation with the University of Milan, and in agreement with the Italian Ministry of Health. ICPS operates in the following areas of activity: information and documentation on pesticide toxicity to man and environment, epidemiological, toxicological and clinical research on effects of pesticides in man; training and education of personnel in public health, assessment of environmental and health impact of pesticides by means of Geographical Information Systems, laboratory research for development and standardisation of methods for residue measurement in environmental and biological media. ICPS is also a centre of international meetings and continuing education courses. A number of projects carried out or underway at ICPS are briefly described in this paper.