ICOH scientific committee on Occupational Toxicology

Welcome to the web page for the ICOH scientific committee on Occupational Toxicology.

The ICOH Scientific Committee of Occupational Toxicology (SCOT) was founded in 1990 in Montreal, Canada. The mission of SCOT is to promote research in all areas of occupational toxicology. A current focus of SCOT is the use of biological monitoring (BM) in exposure assessment and intervention in workplaces and the general environment based on solid scientific and ethical principles.

We hope to share news on forthcoming meetings, past meetings and any administrative forms that may be necessary.

Details of the current Chair and Secretary of the group are available on the ICOH website.

There is also a LinkedIn group, available to SCOT members and non-members to keep up-to-date with ICOH SCOT's activities.

The last International Symposium on Biological Monitoring (ISBM) was held in Porto, Portugal, in May/June 2023. A special edition of Toxicology Letters featuring papers from the conference is in preparation. The next ISBM (13th) will be held in September 2025 in Milan, Italy. Further details to follow.

The symposia exist to bring together the world's leading experts and practitioners in biological monitoring to discuss and share knowledge on new biomarkers, new analytical techniques, case studies of occupational and environmental exposures and the development of policies and guidance to use, interpret and manage biological monitoring as a tool to identify, monitor and control chemical exposures.

If you are interested in hosting a future conference, please review the guidelines on our web page and contact the Secretary to express your interest.

 

SCOT guidelines for membership criteria and the application process

Membership criteria

The guidelines are based on the criteria set out in the ICOH Guidelines for Scientific Committees but provide some clarification on the expectations of SCOT members.

• SCOT members must be a member of ICOH in Good Standing (i.e. payments up-to-date)
• Members must not already be members of more than two other Scientific Committees (the ICOH maximum is three committees per member)
• Members should participate actively in the committee e.g. through attending SCOT conferences, business meetings and/or responding to SCOT Officers with regard to new member applications, group decisions etc.
• Applicants for membership must be currently professionally active in one of the following fields - toxicology, biological monitoring, risk assessment, occupational health/medicine or occupational/industrial hygiene.  Other areas may be considered if the applicant can demonstrate relevance to occupational toxicology.  Existing SCOT members may remain on the committee beyond retirement providing that they are actively contributing as defined above.
• A current publication record in occupational toxicology, biological monitoring or risk assessment.  This is required to fulfil ICOH's criterion of pursuing academic excellence within the committee.

Application process

Applications can be received at any time and will be considered on an ongoing basis by email, without need for a business meeting to be convened.  Anyone wishing to join SCOT, who fulfils the eligibility criteria above, should send a brief CV and a list of relevant publications to the Secretary (contact details available from the ICOH website).