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www.ethicsweb.org Jacqueline van Engelen

Netherlands

updated Apr 20, 2010 by Nick Thorp

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Overview


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

Short history of toxicology in The Netherlands

The first developments (1800 - 1950)

Before the Second World War, toxicological research in The Netherlands was dispersed over several institutions. The first lecturer in toxicology was the physician A.W.M. van Hasselt (1814-1902), who taught toxicology at the State Military Training Hospital. In 1848 he published a book entitled De noodzakelijkheid van algemeen toezigt op het gebruik van vergiften (The Need to Regulate the Use of Venoms). Although Van Hasselt contributed significantly to the training and practical skills of physicians, he did not succeed in establishing continuity in the practice of toxicology.

The first professor of toxicology at Leiden University was the pharmacist E.A. van der Burg, who was appointed in 1877. His major accomplishment was the application of the emerging discipline of analytical chemistry in the confirmation of criminal poisoning. He established his name in the famous mass murder case of Goeie Mie ('good Mary') of Leiden in 1881-82. She poisoned at least 100 people, 27 of whom died, with the arsenic compound orpiment. This was confirmed by Van der Burg's analysis in exhumed bodies by means of the arsenic mirror method developed by Marsh some years before. Van der Burg and his successors continued to play a central role in forensic toxicology until the 1950 when the Central Laboratory of Forensic Sciences, now the Netherlands Forensic Institute, was founded.

Post 1950

Toxicology as a biomedical discipline emerged in The Netherlands after World War II. This process was invigorated on the one hand by the need to develop antidotes against chemical warfare agents, and on the other by the emergence of the chemical industry in The Netherlands and the need to protect the workforce and general population. The result was a prosperous growth of all aspects of toxicology in the Dutch universities, industrial and governmental institutions. Among others, four people can be identified who have been instrumental in this development: Ernst M. Cohen (biological toxicology, TNO and Leiden University), Herman van Genderen (biological toxicology, RIVM and University of Utrecht), Ad N.P. van Heijst (clinical toxicology, RIVM and Utrecht University Hospital) and Reinier L. Zielhuis (occupational and environmental toxicology, University of Amsterdam) were pioneers each in his own field. The result was a flourishing toxicology community in The Netherlands, in which all aspects of the discipline were covered, ranging from molecular to public health aspects.

1979: Establishment of Foundation of the Netherlands Society of Toxicology, Training and Accreditation

Toxicologists soon outnumbered the other professions in the Netherlands Society of Physiology and Pharmacology, necessitating the foundation of the Netherlands Society of Toxicology (NVT: Nederlandse Vereniging voor Toxicologie) in 1979. Within 10 years, the NVT, with a membership of 750, became the 4th largest toxicology society in the world, after the United States, Japanese, and British. In the 1980s, the NVT was the first European society to develop a system of postdoctoral training and accreditation, which formed the model for the European registration as Eurotox Registered Toxicologist.

2007: current situation of toxicology in The Netherlands

At present, toxicology is practised in a broad sense with the aim to protect man and its environment. Major subfields of toxicology consist of Nutrition Toxicology, Medicinal Toxicology, Occupational Toxicology, Genetic Toxicology, Environmental Toxicology, Teratology and Reproductive Toxicology, Toxicologil Pathology, Toxicology and Risk Assessment and In Vitro-Toxicology.

The education and registration of toxicologists remains an important area of the Netherlands Society of Toxicology, which actively encourages the education in toxicology at all universities. After completion of education there are two ways to register as a toxicologist in the Netherlands. The first route - primarily the route followed by PhD-students with additional training with post-doctoral education in toxicology - proceeds via the Dutch "Association for Education to Biomedical Scientific Research" (Dutch abbreviation: SMBWO)" and leads to registration as Medical Biological Researcher-Toxicologist. The second route to registration as a toxicologist is operated by the Society itself. A detailed "Concilicum Toxicologicum (CT)" specifies all requirements to qualify for registration. Every 5-years the registration has to be renewed. A registration committee and an independent committee of appeal have been established.

Recently, a number of toxicology departments at several universities and university medical centres had to stop their activities. This development conflicts with the current increasing (international) need for well-trained toxicologists working for the Dutch Universities and research and policy support and implementation institutions like the RIVM, TNO, Notox and other private and governmental organizations. The Netherlands Society of Toxicology is undertaking major efforts to fulfill these needs and to return toxicology to the flourishing position it held in previous years.

A version of this article was published in Information Resources in Toxicology, 4th Edition, Yuri Bruinen de Bruin and Jacqueline van Engelen, Copyright Elsevier (2009).


Government Agencies


Non-Government Organizations


Universities and Hospitals


Professional Societies


Poison Control Centers


Miscellaneous Resources

National Initiatives


Key Publications

  • Chemical maps (Safety Information on chemical substances) (Chemie kaarten) (Database)
  • Dutch magazines - Of special interest are:
  • Monographs
    • Van Leeuwen C.J., Hermens J.L.M., Risk Assessment of Chemicals: An Introduction. Kluwer Academic Publishers Dordrecht/Boston/London (1995), ISBN 0-7923-3740-9.


Legal Links


About Netherlands


Multilateral Organization Contacts


Literature References from TOXLINE (Netherlands)

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