Chemicals: Tools and Resources

Developing and Implementing Chemical Substitution Policies in Healthcare

  • Getting Started on Choosing Safer Products and Chemicals at Your Health Care Institution. Dowbload PDF
  • Comprehensive Chemicals Policy in Health Care: An Implementation Guide. Download PDF
  • International Chemical Secretariat (Europe) SIN list for chemical substitution. Visit Web
  • European Union project Subs-port is a resource portal on safer alternatives to the use of hazardous chemicals. Visit Web
  • European Union List of lists database: has 29 lists of substances that are legally or voluntary restricted. Visit Web
  • European Chemicals Agency (ECHA)’s online inventory giving hazard information on more than 100,000 substances. The information was collected under the classification, labelling and packaging (CLP) regulation. Visit Web
  • Substitution Support Portal, Moving Towards Safer Alternatives. Visit Web

Guidance Documents for Mercury Substitution in Health Care              

  • WHO Policy Paper on Mercury in Health Care (also available in Arabic, Spanish and French). Download PDF
  • WHO Technical Guidance for Selecting Alternatives to Mercury Thermometers and Blood Pressure Devices. Download PDF
  • HCWH Guide for Eliminating Mercury in Hospitals (also available in Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese and Bahasa). Download PDF
  • UNDP-GEF Global Healthcare Waste Project, Guidance Document on the Clean-up, Transport and Storage of Mercury Waste in Health Care Download PDF
  • WHO-HCWH Global Mercury-Free Healthcare Initiative. Visit Web

Information on the Health Impacts of Chemicals

  • European Agency for Safety and Health at Work. Visit Web
  • World Health Organization, International Agency for Research on Cancer, Monographs on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks to Humans  (also available in French). Visit Web
  • United States Department of Health and Human Services, National Toxicology Program, 12th Report on Carcinogens. Visit Web
  • HCWH US Resources on Toxic Chemicals in Health Care. Visit Web