Chemical risk assessment and management in Czech and Slovak Republics.

For more than 40 years, former Czechoslovakia has made minimal efforts to protect the environment. As a result, newly formed republics suffer from some of the worst environmental pollution in Europe. In all stages of a complex process of improving chemical safety both countries are facing tremendous problems: lack of efficient and powerful legislative measures, inadequate and sometimes non-reliable data, shortage of sophisticated equipment, virtual absence of basic knowledge and, generally, persisting distrust between public and governmental institutions in health and environmental issues. These factors have made the beginning of new approaches extremely difficult. However, a great effort of many people in both republics together with a substantial assistance of both international organizations and national institutions from developed countries seem to be promising. It could help to move former position of largely ineffective measures and investments to one where limited funds are spent to achieve public benefits.