A thorough understanding of the potential health effects related to the production, distribution and use of petroleum products requires a scientific approach. Knowledge developed via established health sciences such as toxicology, industrial hygiene, epidemiology and occupational medicine, has to be harnessed to address health issues such as the management of health and safety at work, the studies of the effects of air pollution on public health, and consumer safety.

From its inception in the early 60s CONCAWE focussed its work on effective occupational health management and was instrumental in establishing the underlying principles and methods throughout the industry's refining and distribution operations.

As this was being achieved, the focus gradually moved towards addressing environmental and human health legislative initiatives. These include product classification and chemical risk assessment, automotive emission regulations and ambient air quality standards. In all these areas many underlying scientific issues remain partly unresolved and new issues emerge, for example as a result of technological improvement of research tools. Law making, based on sound science, requires a thorough understanding of many issues, such as the precise biological effects of potentially harmful substances, the actual levels of exposure to such substances to better understand perceived and real effects at very low exposures and the inherent uncertainties of population-based health and epidemiological research. CONCAWE aims to work with regulators and other stakeholders to identify required research efforts, and will continue to commission high-quality research and review projects itself.

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