Growing tobacco plants acquire metals from soil, fertilisers, and industrial pollution. Smoking liberates some of these metals from tobacco into smoke to be inhaled by the smoker and bystanders.

The World Health Organization (WHO) Tobacco Free Initiative (TFI) has just published a Report of the WHO Study Group on Tobacco Product Regulation (TobReg).

While e-cigarettes are less harmful to health than tobacco cigarettes, the vapour from an e-cigarette contains substances and chemical impurities in concentrations that could be detrimental to heal

Chemicals made from vegetable or animal waste may be an alternative to the use of the substance Bisphenol A (BPA) in thermal paper. Thermal paper is widely used for cash register receipts.

Since August 2014, there has been an increase in the number of Chikungunya patients in the Caribbean region. Travellers who visit the region can become infected there.

RIVM has created an overview of the possible risks of Bisphenol A (BPA) for humans and the environment. BPA is a component of many different products and affects the endocrine system.

At the request of State Secretary Martin van Rijn (VWS), RIVM is carrying out an investigation into the safety of e-cigarettes.

Safety of nicotine-containing electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) cannot be confirmed because of the limited amount of published research in this area.