The Advisory Committee on Hazardous Substances (ACHS)
The Advisory Committee on Hazardous Substances (ACHS) provides expert advice on the science behind hazardous chemicals. It is made up of eleven scientists, drawn from both private-sector industries and public-sector non-governmental organisations and a lay member. The respective fields of Committee members include medicine, chemistry, ecotoxicology and other fields of science that provide a valuable contribution to the successful risk management of chemicals.
The ACHS is politically independent, and provides objective, impartial advice from a purely scientific perspective.
In April 2001, the ACHS adopted the principal role of advising the UK Chemicals Stakeholder Forum. In particular, the Committee has advised the Forum on its criteria for concern, in light of physical and chemical properties of substances. The Committee has retained its role of advising the government directly where appropriate, and has recently provided advice in areas such as the toxicity to non-target wildfowl arising from ingestion of lead shot used in game shooting.
Openness and transparency
The ACHS aims to earn public trust by securing confidence in our actions. Openness requires that we operate in public and through our publications. Transparency means that we aim to make as clear as possible how, and why, we have formulated our advice. This principle is reflected in our publication scheme and code of openness:
- Publication scheme (PDF 30 KB)
- Code of openness (PDF 30 KB)
Meetings
The dates for ACHS meetings in 2008 and 2009 are:
- Tuesday 3 June 2008
- Tuesday 9 September 2008
- Tuesday 25 November 2008
- Tuesday 3 March 2009
- Tuesday 2 June 2009
- Tuesday 15 September 2009
- Tuesday 1 December 2009
The Secretariat have produced guidance for presenters (PDF 25 KB) to the Committee to assist the efficient administration of the agenda at meetings. Would all presenters please take account of these when preparing presentations.
This will be an open meeting and members of the public are invited to attend. Please let the Secretariat know by email chemicals.strategy@defra.gsi.gov.uk or by phoning 020 7238 1596 if you intend to be present. An agenda and papers for the meeting will be published on this website a few days before the meeting.
We publish annual reports, papers and minutes of meetings.
Members
The Committee's expertise covers the areas of environmental and industrial chemistry, and toxicology and ecotoxicology. Committee members in January 2007, including their respective institutions/organisations, are:
|
Prof Jane Plant (chair) |
Imperial College, London |
|
Dr Stuart Dobson |
Centre for Ecology and Hydrology |
|
Prof Ken Donaldson |
University of Edinburgh, ELEGI Colt Laboratory |
|
Dr Peter Donnelly |
Independant consultant |
|
Dr Gev Eduljee |
SITA Ltd |
|
Dr Jamie Lead |
University of Birmingham |
|
Dr Qintao Liu |
AstraZeneca Global Safety Health & Environment |
|
Dr Christina Lye |
Independent Ecotoxicologist, Scientific and Technical Translator |
|
Ms Gwynne Lyons |
CHEM Trust |
|
Dr Alexander Orlov |
State University of New York |
Dr Lesley Stanley |
Independent Consultant in Investigative Toxicology |
Ms Hilary Stone |
Brunel University |
Prof Mark Welland |
Nanoscience Centre, University of Cambridge |
(See also further information on Members' Background, the Register of Members' Interests, and the Code of Practice for Members, together with the Committee's Terms of Reference.)
Further information
- The Secretariat has produced guidance for presenters (PDF 25 KB)
- The ACHS have agreed a statement concerning their position with regard to the use of animals in the testing of chemicals (PDF 10 KB)
Contacts
You can contact the Committee Secretariat at:
Defra
ACHS Secretariat
Area 2A, Nobel House,
17 Smith Square
London
SW1P 3JR
Tel: 020 7238 1596
Email the Committee Secretariat: chemicals.strategy@defra.gsi.gov.uk
Further information is available on our Help page about downloading or reading Adobe Acrobat documents.
Page last modified: 27 March 2008