THE IPCS COLLABORATIVE STUDY ON NEUROBEHAVIORAL SCREENING-I - BACKGROUND AND GENESIS

Numerous events over several years culminated in recognition of the ne ed to explicitly evaluate the nervous system as a potential target for environmental chemicals. Based on recommendations from several intern ational expert panels, the International Programme on Chemical Safety (IPCS) sponsored the Collaborative Study on Neurobehavioral Screening Methods. A Steering Committee was created to oversee the project, deve lop the testing protocol, recruit participating laboratories and revie w and analyze the data. The protocol specified the tests, the chemical s (supplied from a common source) and the exposure conditions (acute a nd repeated dosing). Test methods were based upon existing practices i n toxicological screening as well as recent advances in neurotoxicity screening. Chemicals were selected to produce different profiles of ne urobehavioral effects. Considerable latitude was afforded the particip ating laboratories in the choice of several key variables (e.g., strai n of rat, testing device for motor activity assessment) that could pot entially affect the results of the experiments. The approach therefore provided a standardized yet flexible protocol for evaluating the repr oducibility of neurobehavioral screening data in diverse laboratory se ttings. (C) 1997 Inter Press, Inc.