[1] In OECD countries, HPV chemicals are defined as being produced at levels greater than 1,000 metric tons per producer/importer per year in at least one member country/region.
In 1987, member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development decided to investigate existing chemicals.
Using SIDS and detailed exposure data OECD's High Production Volume Chemicals Programme conducted initial risk assessments to screen and to identify any need for further work.
OECD in turn agreed to refocus and to "increase transparency, efficiency and productivity and allow longer-term planning for governments and industry".
The OECD refocus was on initial hazard assessments of HPV chemicals only, and no longer extensive exposure information gathering and evaluation.
Detailed exposure assessments within national (or regional) programmes and priority setting activities were postponed as post-SIDS work.
[1] The "Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management" (SAICM) is a policy for achieving safe production and use of chemicals worldwide by 2020, developed with stakeholders from more than 140 countries, signed by 100 governments, adopted by the UNEP Governing Council in February 2006.
[9] The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants has aimed to control production, use, trade, disposal and release of twelve Persistent organic pollutants (POPs); the European Community has proposed five additional chemicals.
[13] In 1997 the Environmental Defense Fund reported in “Toxic Ignorance” results of its analysis of the availability of basic health test data on HPV chemicals that only 29% of the HPV chemicals in the US met minimum data requirements.
[18][19] In 2009, EPA reported that it developed a system called ACToR (Aggregated Computational Toxicology Resource) to expose living cells or isolated proteins to chemicals.