ARCHIVE: Advisory Committee on Hazardous Substances
The Advisory Committee on Hazardous Substances (ACHS) provides expert advice on the science behind hazardous chemicals. It is made up of eleven scientists, drawn from both private-sector industries and public-sector non-governmental organisations and a lay member.
The ACHS is politically independent, and provides objective, impartial advice from a purely scientific perspective.
Latest news
- 31 January 2011 – The ACHS holds a one-day workshop on Pharmaceuticals in the Environment (zip / compressed file 3.5 MB)
- 11 May 2010 - The ACHS Chair, Professor Holgate, gives a presentation at a working dinner with Professor Robert Watson hosted by Defra Science Advisory Body to discuss the effectiveness of Defra advisory system (PDF 2.2 MB)
Meetings
The dates for ACHS meetings in 2011 are:
- 7 June 2011
- 6 September 2011
- 13 December 2011
This will be an open meeting and members of the public are invited to attend. Please contact us if you intend to be present. An agenda and papers for the meeting will be published on this website a few days before the meeting.
Meeting minutes and papers
Fortieth meeting 28 March 2011
- Agenda and Papers (zip/compressed file 2MB)
Thirty-ninth meeting 7 December 2010
- Agenda and Papers (zip / compressed file 930 KB)
Thirty-eighth meeting 14 September 2010
- Agenda and Papers (zip / compressed file 1.22 MB)
- Presentation (PDF 560 KB)
- Minutes (PDF 140 KB)
Thirty-seventh meeting 8 June 2010
- Agenda and Papers (zip / compressed file 1.22 MB)
- Presentations (zip / compressed file 870 KB)
- Minutes (PDF 220 KB)
Thirty-sixth meeting 2 March 2010
- Agenda and papers (zip / compressed file 1.8 MB)
- Presentations (zip / compressed file 2.9 MB)
- Minutes (PDF 290 KB)
We only retain recent minutes and meeting papers on this website. Should you need access to older material, please contact us.
Openness and transparency
Openness requires that we operate in public and through our publications. Transparency means that we aim to make as clear as possible how, and why, we have formulated our advice. This principle is reflected in our publication scheme and code of openness:
- Publication scheme (PDF 30 KB)
- Code of openness (PDF 30 KB)
Publications
- Proceedings of the ACHS workshop on Pharmaceuticals in the Environment (zip / compressed file 3.5 MB)
- Opinion on DecaBDE (PDF 470 KB)
- Opinion statement on the Eurostat REACH Baseline Study (PDF 230 KB)
- Review of the Inter-departmental Group on Health Risks from Chemicals (IGHRC) chemical mixtures framework (PDF 190 KB)
- ACHS position with regard to the use of animals in the testing of chemicals (PDF 70 KB)
- Review of the feasibility of recycling phosphates at sewage treatment plants (PDF 490 KB)
- Nanosilver report (PDF 110 KB)
Contact us
You can contact the Committee Secretariat at:
Defra
ACHS Secretariat
Area 2A, Nobel House,
17 Smith Square
London
SW1P 3JR
Tel: 0207 238 5400
Email: chemicals.strategy@defra.gsi.gov.uk
Page last modified: 29 March 2011