Woodhall Stopford, MD MSPH


Dr. Stopford’s most important non-clinical activity is a unique and highly effective prevention program. He
provides pre-marketing toxicologic evaluation of commercial (consumer) product formulas for safety
considerations.

The Duke Toxicology Program now has its own website, describing their resources, policies and even providing forms for submissions of product formulas for evaluation.

He and and his staff of toxicologists collaborate to ascertain the potential for consumer harm from use
(and even abuse) of many product lines, most commonly materials for writing, arts creation and craft work.
These pre-marketing evaluations are an incredibly effective form of prevention, in that the potential
hazards never reach the potential victims.

After consulting with the Duke toxicologists’ assessment regarding exposures from each products’
ingredients, manufacturers can often adjust constituents to create safer products, or can affix suitable
labels for appropriate use of necessary safeguards. The benefits to consumers, to the affected industry
and the fact that this avoids the imposition of regulatory delays and disputes are obviously a
“Win-Win-Win” arrangement.
 

The largest group of client firms participating in this endeavor is the
 Art & Creative Materials Institute (ACMI), a huge trade association
 of manufacturers and distributors of hundreds of kinds of arts and
 crafts products. These companies and their approved products are
 available on the WWW at the Institute’s own web-site.

Consumers (and school systems and professional artists) have learned to count on the protective information implied by these seals:

Other firms protecting their customers through the use of Duke Toxicology Services’ evaluations include
the members of the Writing Instrument Manufacturers’ Association and the Pencil Makers’ Association.



Messages for Sandy Stopford


Revised: 4/23/00

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