Toxic agent and radiation control: meeting the 1990 objectives for the nation.

Toxic agent and radiation control is 1 of the 15 health priority areas addressed through the Public Health Service''s Objectives for the Nation. Several gains in moving toward the 1990 goals for toxic agent and radiation control have been recorded. Research and technical assistance, combined with legislation to reduce the amount of lead in gasoline, have contributed to a decrease in the mean blood lead level of the general population. New testing procedures have been developed to evaluate both reproductive and developmental toxicities of chemicals. Educational implementation of pelvimetry referral criteria in a multiyear study involving approximately 200 U.S. hospitals has resulted in a 50 percent reduction in the number of pelvimetries performed. Health-related responses have been given to environmental problems such as exposures to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in Massachusetts and Florida and exposures to dioxin in Missouri and New Jersey. Chemical records for some 1,000 compounds likely to occur in chemical dumps or in bulk transit are being either created or updated to enhance online data retrieval services. For the foreseeable future, however, improvement of knowledge of the potential health risk posed by toxic chemicals and radiation must remain one of the most important priorities. To control toxic agents, development of surveillance systems and data bases are equally important.