Methods for detecting teratogenic agents in man.

At a multidiscipline international meeting sponsored by L'Institut de la Vie held at Guadeloupe in January 1974, current methods for detecting teratogenic agents were outlined and discussed. Recommendations of the participants of the conference were: recognize the limitations of the present defenses against teratogenic agents; educate the public and medical profession about the known human teratogenic agents; select for animal teratogenicity screening among new and existing agents by emphasizing substances to which the entire population will be exposed, agents to which pregnant women are exposed, viruses which are found to persist in the human fetus, and agents which have become suspect from clinical experience; recognize that nearly all compounds have a fetotoxic dose but that this does not imply teratogenicity; encourage the development of new, quick in vitro testing methods for detecting teratogenic agents; monitor for sudden increases in the frequency of specific malformations in newborn infants and in aborted fetuses; assure that expert multidiscipline committees are available to evaluate the threat when suspected teratogens are reported; improve teratology information storage and retrieval systems by record linkage of clinical data, linkage between computer systems, and universal identifier system for chemical compounds and congenical malformations; foster the exchange of data, particularly those held by the pharmaceutical industry.