Fd Chem. Toxic. Vol, 22, No, 12, pp. 1015-1017, 1984 0278-6915/84 $3.00+0.00 Printed in Great Britain Pergamon Press Ltd

Review Section

REVIEWS OF RECENT PUBLICATIONS

IRPTC Legal File 1983, Vols I and II. IRPTC Data Profile Series No. 4, United Nations Environment Programme, Geneva. pp. 875. $65.00. Available in the UK through HMSO, £58.50.

Information on the regulations governing individ- ual chemicals in different countries is often hard to obtain, and the present attempt to amass such data in one publication is therefore to be applauded. The document was produced by the International Regis- ter of Potentially Toxic Chemicals (IRPTC; United Nations Environment Programme). It briefly tabu- lates the legal controls and recommendations on some 450 chemicals issued by 12 countries--- Argentina, Brazil, Czechoslovakia, West Germany, India, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Sweden, UK, USA and USSR--and six international organizations--the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance, the EEC, FAO, International Maritime Organization, United Nations and WHO. For each chemical, data are presented on its control in air, water, wastes, soil, sediments, animal and plant tissues, food and bever- ages, drugs, consumer goods such as cosmetics, agri- culture and animal husbandry, with the source refer- ence in each case. Most of the substances, indexed by their RTECS numbers, are industrial chemicals and pesticides.

The information has been compiled with the help of national correspondents (the DoE in the case of the UK) and varies somewhat in completeness. Thus, for the few food additives and contaminants covered (which include saccharin and its sodium salt, mono- sodium glutamate, sodium nitrite, sodium nitrate, titanium dioxide, dimethyl polysiloxane, chloroform and vinyl chloride) no mention is made of UK regulations on food use, and any reference to UK cosmetics regulations is also omitted. What is in- cluded for the UK mainly relates to the labelling of dangerous substances and poisons and the TLVs for occupational exposure, although for other countries (in particular the USA) coverage appears far more extensive. The present exercise was restricted to chemicals on the IRPTC working list, but it is hoped during 1984 to extend it to other chemicals mentioned in the regulatory texts studied. Such an enlargement of its scope, ideally coupled with the inclusion of other major countries, would greatly increase its value.

Pesticide Chemistry: Human Welfare and The Envi- roument: Vol. I. Synthesis and Structure-Activity Re- lationships; Vol. 2. Natural Products; Vol. 3. Mode of Action, Metabolism and Toxicology; Vol. 4. Pesticide Residues and Formulation Chemistry. Editors-in Chief

J. Miyamoto & P. C. Kearney. Pergamon Press, Oxford, 1983. pp. ix + 383, ix + 372, xi 4- 569 and xi + 429. £195.00 for 4-volume set.

The Fifth International Congress of Pesticide Chemistry, sponsored by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry and held in Kyoto, Japan in 1982, was another of those large-scale affairs apparently designed to test the stamina and orien- teering skills of the participants as well as to satisfy their natural curiosity or thirst for knowledge. Eight major topics and three complementary symposia were covered in 49 sessions, which together ac- counted for over 700 contributions, including some 250 invited papers. It is as well, therefore, that the published proceedings, which reproduce the invited contributions from the main sections, supplementary symposia and poster-discussion sessions, are presented in four separate volumes with a fairly clear division of subjects (see above).

Before embarking on its main themes, Volume 1 presents two somewhat philosophical plenary lectures on the role of pesticide research and use in promoting human health. These highlight some of the problems involved, such as the need to submit 268 kg of paper in order to get a certain pesticide registered for use on a specific food crop in the USA and the calculation that in the period 1980-2030 as many people will live on this planet as lived in the whole time between 1 AD and 1980! The remainder of Volume 1 is con- cerned with the synthesis of pesticides and growth regulators and with the relationship between chem- ical structure and biological activity. Topics for Vol- ume 2 range from antibiotics used against fungi, insects and weeds--as well as against animal disease or for growth promotion--through the more ex- pected pyrethroids and pheromones to the mass culture of marine phytoflagellates in the search for potential pesticides. Tucked away at the end is a small section on herbicides and plant-growth regulators used in rice cultures. After considering a variety of methods for detecting ever-smaller amounts of pes- ticides in an ever-increasing range of products and envrionments, Volume 4 turns its attention to the residues found and--less frequently--to the question of when (and if) these residues are likely to be a problem. A subsequent section deals with the chem- istry and properties of formulations and the effects of various formulations on the biological activity of the main components. This volume contains cumulative author and (fairly basic) subject indexes covering all four books which are otherwise indexed separately.

To those of toxocological bent, Volume 3 has most to offer. Although a major part is concerned with the

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