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Toxicology in Finland

View Finland in a larger map Legend: = Government Agency, = NGO, = University, = Professional Society, = Poison Control Center, = Toxic Site.

Toxicology came into its own in Finland in the late 1970s. The first full-time professorship in toxicology (in toxicology and pharmacokinetics) was founded at the University of Kuopio, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology in 1976; the Finnish Textbook, Pharmacology and Toxicology edited by J. Tuomisto and M.K. Paasonen, was published in 1978; the Finnish Society of Toxicology was founded in 1979 and the first postgraduate program in toxicology was launched to start at the beginning of 1980s at the University of Kuopio. Research on toxicological topics had been conducted long before, but the above breakthroughs may be regarded as formal signs of the evolution of the discipline.

Currently toxicology is an established science in Finland and it has a clear role in Finnish society. In several institutes, it is part of their activity or is integrated with other disciplines. This is true also for ecotoxicology.

The Finnish Society of Toxicology has had about 300 members through the years. It has organized Annual Scientific Meetings since its foundation.

Finnish toxicologists have been active both in EUROTOX and IUTOX. The 10th IUTOX meeting (ICT-X) was organized in Tampere, Finland, in 2004. 

In the paragraphs below links are given to institutes and organizations where toxicology or ecotoxocology is part of research, teaching or regulatory work. Details of activities may be obtained through their web-pages.

Government Agencies

• Finnish Cancer Registry
• Finnish Environmental Administration(Valtion Ympäristöhallinnon Verkkopalvelu)
  • Finnish Environment Institute (the research and development arm)(Suomen Ympäristökeskus (SYKE))
  • Ministry of the Environment (Ympäristöministeriö)
• Finnish Forest Research Institute (Metsäntutkimuslaitos, METLA)
• Finnish Institute of Occupational Health (FIOH)(including a Department of Industrial Hygiene and Toxicology)(Työterveyslaitos)
• Finnish Meteorological Institute(Ilmatieteen Laitos)
• Game and Fisheries Research(Riista- ja kalatalouden tutkimuslaitos, RKTL)
• Geological Survey of Finland(Geologian Tutkimuskeskus)
• Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry(Maa- ja metsätalousministeriö)
• Ministry of the Environment (Ympäristöministeriö)
• Ministry of Social Affairs and Health (Sosiaali- ja terveysministeriö)
  • Environmental Health
• Ministry of Employment and Economy (Työ- ja elinkeinoministeriö)
• MTT Agrifood Research Finland(Maa- ja elintarviketalouden tutkimuslaitos, MTT)
• National Agency for Medicines (responsible for medicines, medical devices, and blood products) (Lääkelaitos)
• National Food Agency(Elintarvikevirasto, EVIRA)
• National Supervisory Authority of Welfare and Health (Sosiaali- ja terveysalan lupa- ja valvontavirasto, VALVIRA)
  • Chemicals(KEMIKAALIT)
• National Institute for Health and Welfare (Terveyden ja hyvinvoinnin laitos, THL)
• National Research and Development Centre for Welfare and Health(Sosiaali-ja terveysalan tutkimus-ja kehittömiskeskus (STAKES))
• Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority(Söteilyturvakeskus)

Non-Government Organizations

• Arctic Council: Finland
• Chemical Industry Federation of Finland(http://www.chemind.fi)
• OECD Environment: Information by Country: Finland

Universities

• Åbo Akademi University(Åbo Akademi)
• University of Helsinki(Helsingin Yliopisto)
  • Department of Forensic Medicine
  • Institute of Biomedicine
  • National Library of Health Sciences(Terveystieteiden keskuskirjasto ((Terkko))
• University of Joensuu(Joensuun Yliopisto)
• University of Jyväskylä(Jyväskylän yliopisto)
  • Institute for Environmental Research
• University of Kuopio(Kuopion yliopisto)
  • Department of Ecology and Environmental Science (Ekologisen ympäristö-tieteen laitos)
  • Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology (Farmakologian ja toksikologian laitos)
• University of Oulu(Oulun yliopisto)
• University of Tampere(Tampereen yliopisto)
• University of Turku (Turun yliopisto)

Professional Societies

• Finnish Society of Toxicology(Suomen toxsikologiyhdistys)

Poison Control Centers

• Poison Information Center(Myrkytystietokeskus)

Miscellaneous Resources

• None

Key Publications

• Koulu M, Tuomisto J, eds. Farmakologia ja Toksikologia (Pharmacology and Toxicology) (Kustannusosakeyhtio Medicina, Kuopio, 2007)

Legal Links

• FINLEX (extensive set of Finnish legislative documents)(FINLEX)
• Note: Also Consider EUR-Lex (Access to EU law) and N-Lex (A common gateway to EU national law sites)

About Finland

• Background Notes: Finland (US Department of State)
• Consular Information Sheet: Finland (US Department of State)
• Country Study: Finland (US Library of Congress)
• Culture Crossing: Finland (Cultural Etiquette for Interacting with People from Finland)
• Finnish News
  • (from onlinenewspapers.com)
  • (from DailyEarth.com)
• Portals to the World: Finland (US Library of Congress)
• Statistics Finland
• Virtual Finland
  • Environmental Protection in Finland
• The World Fact Book: Finland
• World Health Organization - Environmental Burden of Disease Country Profile (PDF - 122 KB)

Multilateral Organization Contacts

A specific country may or may not have a representative in these organizations.

Literature References from TOXLINE (Finland)

• Search for Literature Related to Finland
• Search for Literature by Authors in Finland

  
  Note: Overlap between these two sets of search results is likely.