Chemical safety is achieved by dealing with chemicals appropriately to ensure the safety of people and the environment. The term ‘chemical safety’ encompasses all chemicals – natural and manufactured – and the full range of exposure situations from the natural presence of chemicals in the environment to their extraction or synthesis, industrial production, transport, use and disposal. Key chemicals of concern today include asbestos, pesticides, lead, mercury, and dioxins.

In addition to these environmental exposures, chemical risks in the health sector must also be considered. For example, the harm caused by the improper management of health-care waste generated by hospitals and other sites of medical activity includes infections from contaminated syringes, radiation burns, injuries, and poisoning by toxins in wastewater and pharmaceutical products