ROLE OF HUMAN NEUROBEHAVIORAL TESTS IN REGULATORY ACTIVITY ON CHEMICALS

Psychological performance tests have been used since the mid-1960s in occupational and environmental health toxicology. The interpretation o f significantly different test scores in neurobehavioural studies is n ot straightforward in the regulation of chemicals. This paper sets out some issues which emerged from discussions at an international worksh op, organised by the United Kingdom Health and Safety Executive (HSE), to discuss differences in interpretation of human neurobehavioural te st data in regulatory risk assessments. The difficulties encountered b y regulators confronted with neurobehavioural studies seem to be twofo ld; some studies lack scientific rigor; other studies, although scient ifically sound, are problematic because it is not clear what interpret ation to place on the results. Issues relating to each of these points are discussed. Next, scenarios within which to consider the outcomes of neurobehavioural studies are presented. Finally, conclusions and re commendations for further work are put forward.