Health Canada
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Some of the following hyperlinks are to sites of organizations or other entities that are not subject to the 
Official Languages Act. The material found there is therefore in the language(s) used by the sites in question.
Links to Web sites not under the control of the Government of Canada (GoC) are provided solely for the convenience of users. The GoC is not responsible for the accuracy, currency or the reliability of the content. The GoC does not offer any guarantee in that regard and is not responsible for the information found through these links, nor does it endorse the sites and their content.
The following links will bring you to additional resources related to human health risk assessment.
The Existing Substances Division and the New Chemical Substances Section of Health Canada assess the potential effects on human health of chemical substances in existence in, or about to be introduced into the Canadian environment. Environment Canada has parallel programs to investigate the potential risk to environmental health posed by new and existing chemical substances.
- Existing Substances Division - Health Canada
- New Chemical Substances Section, New Substances Assessment and Control Board - Health Canada
The Canadian Environmental Protection Act Environmental Registry has created a list of contaminants that are of top priority for assessment to determine whether they pose a risk to the health of Canadians or the environment.
The Government of Canada's Chemical Substances Web portal is a one-window information source for Canadians to find information on chemicals used in Canada, highlighting federal action to manage and prevent risks to human health and the environment.
The Federal-Provincial-Territorial Committee on Drinking Water has established guidelines for acceptable levels of contaminants in drinking water and water used for recreation.
The Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment reviews background documentation regarding the effects of contaminants on the environment to produce the Canadian Environmental Quality Guidelines.
The Contaminated Sites Management Working Group combines the expertise and effort of 15 federal departments and agencies to develop a consistent approach to the management of federal contaminated sites in Canada. The group's Web site provides contaminated sites-related publications, lists of relevant legislation and links to provincial contaminated sites authorities.
The Northern Contaminated Sites Program examines the issue of contaminated sites in northern Canada.
The United States Environmental Protection Agency is a reliable source for information on contaminants and on human health risk assessment. The Agency's Integrated Risk Information System and Risk Assessment Information System provide toxicity information, health effects, and recommended safe levels for contaminants regulated by the U.S. government. Contaminated sites in the U.S. are evaluated as part of the Superfund Risk Assessment process. The Superfund Web site is an excellent resource for understanding how the U.S. government plans to assess and remediate its federal contaminated sites.
The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry is a world leader in providing summaries and toxicological profiles on a number of common contaminants.
The International Programme on Chemical Safety is hosted by the World Health Organization. This programme provides chemical safety information from intergovernmental organizations on contaminants in the environment and in food, drawing on a number of large databases to yield easy access to peer-reviewed information.
The World Health Organization and the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations present an easy-to-understand overview of risk analysis in food on their Web site:
The National Library of Medicine provides searchable online databases of medical and health-related journals. PubMed is a database of medical journal articles. TOXNET can be used to search multiple databases for information on chemical toxicity, safety and related journal articles.
The Geological Survey of Canada, in partnership with Health Canada, has compiled geochemical metadata for glacial sediments (till) and soils in Canada. The data are compiled from major geochemical surveys undertaken by federal and provincial organizations and is accessible through an interactive map showing the survey locations.
The European Exposure Factors Sourcebook(ExpoFacts) is a collection of statistics and references for environmental exposure analysis and risk assessment.
The Institut nationale de santé publique de Québec produces the Bulletin d'information en santé environnementale, a journal focussing on environmental health.
