POTENTIAL TOXIC COMPOUNDS IN OUR ENVIRONM ENT - CHALLENGE OR COST OF PROSPERITY

The goal of this contribution was the description of the possibilities as well as the limitations to which a toxicologist is confronted when evaluating potential toxic compounds to which human beings can be exp osed during their lifetime. The number of substances is overwhelming. The available methods for the evaluation are not satisfactory for ever ybody. Nevertheless, the results are not as bad as sometimes is assert ed: in the industrial societies, the expected life span of men increas es. The evaluation of the effects is unsatisfactory especially for the carcinogenic and allergenic potential of foreign compounds. This is t he consequence of our limited knowledge about the biological processes underlaying these effects, or, in other words, research must be inten sified in this field. Finally the experiences of the public as well as of the media with risks and their evaluation are not satisfactorily d eveloped. The intellectual development of the public is rather slow co mpared to that in business life and economics. This means that everybo dy oughts to acquire knowledge in order to be able to make appropriate decisions in a world increasingly complicated. Otherwise, our society ends up with a convenient home for the aged combined with a cemetery. And this, by the way, is less than a recreation center (Freizeitpark) .