Workshop/conference on the role of metals in carcinogenesis. Sponsored by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, the National Cancer Institute, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Atlanta, Georgia March 24-28, 1980.

Foreword It is my privilege to write these introductory comments on the Proceedings ofthe Workshop/Con-ference on the Role of Metals in Carcinogenesis. The field of metal carcinogenicity, although not new, has moved into an area of even greater prominence and urgency. We of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), and its sister institutes, the National Cancer Institute and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, feel that this is an issue of high priority, and each institute accordingly gave support to this Workshop. We also acknowledge the valuable support provided to the Workshop's organizers by the Scientific Committee on the Toxicology of Metals of the Permanent Commission and International Association on Occupational Health. The Workshop brought together some 18 individual reports from eminent scientists, as well as a joint report containing a group of thoughtful conclusions and recommendations for future research. NIOSH will very carefully review these conclusions and recommendations in planning our own laboratory research and field studies. We believe this will be a valuable addition to initiatives already underway in NIOSH to further improve workers' health and safety.