Centre of Toxicology and Health Safety

The Centre of Toxicology and Health Safety (CTZB) consists of six departments, namely the Department for Chemical Safety of Products, Department for Special Food Types and Microbiology of Consumer Products, Department of Alternative Toxicological Methods, Department of Toxicogenomics, Department of Biomedicine and Department for Welfare of Laboratory Animals. They comprise nine National Reference Centres, Points and Laboratories.

The specific tasks, and thus the focus of the CTZB, are based on Act No. 258/2000 Coll. on the protection of public health, as amended, on the needs of the founder, i.e. the Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic, and on the Statute of the National Institute of Public Health.
CTZB provides assessment of the safe use of dietary supplements, foods for special nutrition and other types of foodstuffs, evaluation of  biological and chemical safety of cosmetic products, consumer products and materials intended for contact with food, toys and products intended for children under the age of three, as well as chemical safety of building materials and the indoor environment of habitable spaces in certain types of buildings. CTZB is also focused on revealing the mechanisms of chemical carcinogenesis and tumorigenesis in cases where the influence of the occupational and living environment can be expected, screening of genetic disposition using genomic and proteomic methodology for preventive and diagnostic measures leading to wider use of toxicogenomics in public health, especially in the field of cancer prevention and prognosis.

CTZB serves for the NIPH and other subjects as a reference accredited user and breeding facility of experimental animals for both conventional breeding of laboratory animals and SPF (specific-pathogen-free) quality  breeding, as well as for work in biological risk category III work and handling of GMO categories I and II.

The target tasks of CTZB comprise in particular:

• Providing expert, methodological, reference, research, educational, expert, advisory and consultancy activities in the field of toxicology of consumer products and their ingredients and protection of public health.
• Performing chemical and biological analyses and evaluation of health risks of the above mentioned product commodities according to the requirements of the Ministry of Health and other institutions.
• Monitoring of the undesirable presence of substances of societal importance with potentially adverse effects on human health, in particular substances classified as CMR and endocrine disruptors.
• Development of research activities and support for participation in national and international research projects, cooperation with reference laboratories of other EU Member States.
• Representation of the Czech Republic in committees and working groups of the European Commission, the Council of Europe, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and in the standard-setting international organisations OECD, CEN and ISO, including the preparation of expert documents.