>About Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Public Health

Departments, Offices, and Branch Laboratory

	Department of Microbiology
	Department of Food Safety
	Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences
	Department of Environmental Health and Toxicology
	Department of Regional Food and Pharmaceutical Safety Control
	Office of Quality Assurance
	Tama Branch Institute

Pharmaceutical Sciences

The Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences consists of two divisions, which are mainly responsible for services involving pharmaceutical hygiene. The Department conducts examinations on drugs, quasi-drugs, and cosmetics, etc. that have been collected from all over Tokyo, and also develops and improves new analytical methods. Prefectural governors approve some drugs or quasi-drugs, so the Department also reviews whether or not the specifications and testing methods in such manufacturing and import approval have been adequately established.

The Division of Drugs conducts examinations on prescription and non-prescription drugs, hospital preparations, IVD (In Vitro Diagnostics), crude drugs, and medicinal herbal products. The Department contributes to ensure drugs are of the highest quality by sending staff members to accompany inspectors on GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices) inspections, providing technical advice on manufacturing and quality control. In addition, it is conducting examinations on interim products and final products. It also examines for the presence of drug ingredients or narcotic ingredients in health foods or so-called law-evading drugs. It is in charge of the testing of cyanide in wastewater of galvanizing and metal processing factories. The Medicinal Plant Garden in Kodaira cultivates poppy, hemp, narcotic-source plants, poisonous herbs, and different types of medicinal plants, provides training and guidance to Pharmaceutical Affairs inspectors, medical students, and pharmaceutical students, educates the Tokyo public on medicinal plants, and conducts plant differentiation examinations.

The Division of Quasi-Drugs and Chemical Safety Investigation inspects the safety of pharmacologically mild quasi-drugs such as medicated cosmetics and bath liquids, cosmetics, sanitary supplies such as absorbent cotton and gauze, and medical devices including contact lenses and syringes. The Division examines whether harmful substances (formaldehyde etc.) are detectable in household commodities such as clothes and detergents, baby bottles, and toys. The examination is done as part of its responsibilities on environmental food contamination testing, and is performed together with the Department of Environmental Health, the levels of endocrine disrupting chemicals such as PCB/organic tin and heavy metals in seawater, sediments, and fish and shellfish in Tokyo Bay, and those purchased at the Tokyo Central Market. It also measures the content of heavy metals such as cadmium in rice (brown rice) distributed in Tokyo.

[Relationship with Tokyo citizens]
The Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences examines the quality of drugs, quasi-drugs, and cosmetics sampled from all around Tokyo, educates the Tokyo public on medicinal plants at the Medicinal Plant Garden, and contributes to prevent health damages.


Health foods in violation of the Pharmaceutical Affairs Law	Various cosmetics	Poppy culture in Medicinal Plant Garden