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98 ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMEI^TT 



Within the National Institutes of Health. NIEHS has pursued its 

 mission of basic research in environmental health by funding research on 

 any animal species in which fundamental mechanisms can be studied. Thus, 

 the NIEHS portfolio of studies is fairly broad. In some projects, panicularly 

 the Suf>erfund Basic Research Program Projects. NIEHS has brought together 

 highly interdisciplinary groups for both ecological and health investigations. 

 The research tools used by these groups may be applied to both areas. The 

 Executive Committee of the National Toxicology Program consists of the 

 senior administrators of the National Institutes of Health, the National Cancer 

 Institute, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, the Na- 

 tional Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, the Agency for Toxic 

 Substances and Disease Registry, the National Center for Toxicological Re- 

 search, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Environmental Protec- 

 tion Agency. This could serve as a useful forum for evaluating environmental 

 problems related to human health. 



The National Research Council's Board on Environmental Studies 

 and Toxicology has an explicit mandate to address environmental and en- 

 vironmental health problems and has made considerable progress in doing 

 so over the past three years. Among many other reports, NRC has issued 

 a series of "biomarkers" studies dealing with exposure, susceptibility, and 

 adverse effects. These rep>orts have focused on biomarkers of reproduaivc 

 and developmental toxicity, pulmonary toxicity, neurotoxicity, and immuno- 

 toxicity, as well as the effects of pollution on trees. The NRC has also been 

 heavily involved in ecological, physical, and socioeconomic assessments of 

 proposed offshore drilling sites. Nevertheless, finding common ground on 

 specific projects remains a challenge. 



Promising Areas— Risk and Global Climate Change 



We believe that there are several promising areas in which greater interaction 

 between the health and ecological communities should be pursued. The 

 risk-assessment/risk-charaacrization paradigm can be applied to both eco- 

 logical and health problems or potential problems. Identification of hazard, 

 charaaerization of risk, and reduction of exposure and risk are common 

 aaivities, as is the overarching challenge of risk communication. The NRC 

 has established a Committee on Risk Assessment Methodology composed 

 of individuals from the health and ecological research communities who 

 are working together to develop methodologies to assess the risks posed by 

 a broad range of environmental problems. 



The global climate change problem has brought environmental 

 modelers and toxicologists together. Stratospheric ozone depletion has been 

 linked primarily to an increased incidence of skin cancer in human beings 



