toxicology information from us government agencies

Toxicology 157 (2001) 25–49

Toxicology information from US government agencies�

Randall P. Brinkhuis *US En6ironmental Protection Agency, Office of Pollution Pre6ention and Toxics, Information Management Di6ision (7407),

1200 Pennsyl6ania A6e., NW, Washington, DC 20460, USA

Abstract

This article describes information resources of toxicological or chemical interest that are available electronicallyfrom US federal government agencies. Topics covered include hazard assessment, risk assessment, chemical testing,food safety, hazardous waste, and occupational safety and health. Published by Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd.

Keywords: US government agencies — information resources; Toxicological information systems; Chemical information systems;Risk assessment information

www.elsevier.com/locate/toxicol

1. Introduction

The US federal government compiles and main-tains a wide range of toxicologically relevant in-formation resources that can be used bytoxicologists, risk assessors, and others. Theseresources are often created under the authority offederal laws requiring agencies to monitor chemi-cal substances, gather information on them, havecompanies submit data, and evaluate the hazardand risk of substances.

The nature of the legislative process in the UShas led to the passage of laws that tend to focuson the management and control of chemicals

based on intended effect, where or how used, orhow they are released into the environment. Otherfactors may include regulation of chemicals caus-ing a particular adverse health effect, those havinga disproportionate effect on a particular group ofpeople, or pollution generated by a particularindustrial process (Bandurraga, 2000a; Derelanko,1995).

Because of the widely varying requirements andrestrictions imposed on federal agencies regardinggathering and management of data, data havehistorically been scattered throughout variousagencies. To add to the complexity of the situa-tion, much of the toxicological and chemical dataand information used by the federal governmentoriginates in the scientific and trade literature.While some of the studies cited in the literaturemay have been funded by agencies, others mayactually have been funded by companies or indus-try groups. In some cases agencies may contractout the task of identifying data for a chemical.

� Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those ofthe author and not necessarily those of the US EnvironmentalProtection Agency.

* Tel.: +1-202-2609854; fax: +1-202-2601216.E-mail address: [email protected] (R.P.

Brinkhuis).

0300-483X/01/$ - see front matter Published by Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd.

PII: S 0300 -483X(00 )00339 -5

R.P. Brinkhuis / Toxicology 157 (2001) 25–4926

Regulations for some types of chemicals or prod-ucts may require that industry submit data andinformation; in some cases that information maybe declared confidential or proprietary (Bandur-raga, 2000b).

Before the blossoming of the Internet, espe-cially the advent of the World Wide web, linkingand integrating many databases was technicallyproblematic. Some of the larger toxicologicallyoriented databases have been maintained for twoor three decades, often on mainframes and otherrelatively inaccessible systems, though a numberof vendors did make some of those available for afee. Many databases, however, were only accessi-ble within agencies. In addition, very few docu-ments were publicly available in electronic format,although after the introduction of the personalcomputer many were actually created using wordprocessing software.

The Web has eliminated many of the technicalbarriers to agencies being able to share informa-tion (Wexler et al., 2000). Laws like the Emer-gency Planning and Community Right-to-KnowAct (EPCRA) and the Electronic Freedom ofInformation Act (EFOIA), as well as variousPresidential directives and executive orders oncustomer service and public access, have rein-forced the move toward making more and moreinformation available electronically. This articlewill list resources available from interagency pro-grams, executive branch agencies, the legislativebranch, and other government-related sources.

It is not, however, intended to be comprehen-sive, but to indicate the depth and breadth ofinformation available from the US federal govern-ment. Note: While URLs are provided for mostof the resources in this article, many are notbecause of their length and the tendency of Webpage URLs to change frequently. URLs maycease to be valid because of changes in servers ordirectory structures. If a URL is not given, gen-eral information is given on which site a resourceis located. However, even these can quickly be-come outdated as pages are redesigned or sitesupdated. If a resource no longer appears to beavailable (or its URL is not listed), readers canattempt to locate the resource by using the site’ssearch engine if one is available. If that does not

work, readers should try searching Yahoo! Bhttp://www.yahoo.com\ or using an Internetsearch engine. The author strongly encouragesWeb site designers to consider using aliases tohelp reduce this problem. Readers should notethat because full-scale articles on the Environmen-tal Protection Agency (EPA) and the NationalLibrary of Medicine (NLM) are included else-where in this special issue of Toxicology, minimalinformation about their resources is listed in thisarticle.

2. White House and Interagency Programs

2.1. Council on En6ironmental Quality (CEQ)Bhttp://www.whitehouse.go6/CEQ/\

The CEQ coordinates federal environmental ef-forts and works closely with agencies and otherWhite House offices in the development of envi-ronmental policies and initiatives. It issues annualreports on the state of the environment Bhttp://ceq.eh.doe.gov/nepa/reports/reports.htm\ ,which may include information or statistics onevents or trends that may be of interest to readers.

2.2. Committee on En6ironment and NaturalResources (CENR)Bhttp://www.nnic.noaa.go6/CENR/cenr.html\

CENR, a committee of the White House’s Na-tional Science and Technology Council, focuseson priority environmental research needs throughits subcommittees, one of which is the Subcom-mittee on Toxics and Risks. CENR’s EndocrineDisruptor Working Group under that subcommit-tee has been coordinating an effort to identifychemicals in the environment that might adverselyaffect the hormone systems of humans andwildlife (Committee on Environment and NaturalResources, 1998). More information about thisinteragency effort can be found on the EndocrineDisruptors Research Initiative page Bhttp://www.epa.gov/endocrine\ . Links are provided tobackground materials and other publications, aswell as to an inventory of federal research projectsfocusing on endocrine disruptors.

R.P. Brinkhuis / Toxicology 157 (2001) 25–49 27

2.3. National Toxicology Program (NTP)Bhttp://ntp-ser6er.niehs.nih.go6/\

The NTP consists of relevant toxicology activi-ties of the National Institutes of Health’s Na-tional Institute of Environmental Health Sciences(NIEHS), the Centers for Disease Control andPrevention’s National Institute for OccupationalSafety and Health (NIOSH), and the Food andDrug Administration’s National Center for Toxi-cological Research (NCTR)1. NTP’s goals are toprovide toxicological evaluations on substances ofpublic health concern; develop and validate testmethods; develop approaches and generate datathat strengthen the scientific basis for risk assess-ments; and communicate program plans and re-sults to all stakeholders including governmentalagencies, the medical and scientific communities,and the public.

Data and information generated through theNTP are made available to the public throughtwo primary sources, the NTP Web site and theEnvironmental Health Information Service(EHIS; Bhttp://ehis.niehs.nih.gov\ ), which is apay-for-access service provided by the NIEHS(see below). The NTP Web site provides access toNTP testing information and study results, theNTP Report on Carcinogens (RoC), chemicalhealth and safety information, special reports, andannouncements, as well as links to the Web sitesfor the NTP Center for the Evaluation of Alterna-tive Toxicological Methods (NICEATM) and theCenter for the Evaluation of Risks to HumanReproduction (CERHR). In addition, one cansearch NTP study databases, subscribe to theNTP listserv, or nominate a chemical for study bythe NTP.

The Report on Carcinogens (RoC) lists chemi-cals that NTP has determined are known to behuman carcinogens, chemicals that are reasonablyanticipated to be human carcinogens, and delisted

substances. Appendices describe the RoC listing/delisting procedures and review process. The RoCWeb page is accessible from both the NTP andEHIS Web sites.

The testing information and study results pageprovides access to results and status of individualtest agents being studied by the NTP; reportsshowing the status of agents in different types oftoxicology and carcinogenesis studies; abstracts oflong-term carcinogenesis studies, immunotoxicity,teratology, and other studies. NTP’s chemicalhealth and safety data includes information onover 2000 chemicals studied by the NTP. Ab-stracts for studies found on EHIS are viewablewithout charge, but one must have an EHISsubscription to view the full text.

NTP Special Reports are extracted from theNTP studies database. These include individualstudy summary reports; lists of organ sites andchemicals associated with studies; reports on theuse of animals as controls; and structural infor-mation about chemicals studied by NTP. One cansearch NTP’s Toxicology Data Management Sys-tem (TDMS) Database for tumor and non-tumorpathologies found in chronic and prechronicstudies.

The NTP Interagency Center for the Evalua-tion of Alternative Toxicological Methods(NICEATM) provides support for the Intera-gency Coordinating Committee on the Validationof Alternative Methods (ICCVAM) Bhttp://icc-vam.niehs.nih.gov\ . ICCVAM and NICEATMwere created to develop a process to achieveregulatory acceptance of validated alternative testmethods. More information about the process ofdeveloping, validating, and harmonizing alterna-tive test methods can be found on theNICEATM/ICCVAM Web site. ICCVAM alsoprovides a listserv to which one can subscribefrom the Web site.

The mission of the NTP Center for the Evalua-tion of Risks to Human Reproduction (CERHR)Bhttp://cerhr.niehs.nih.gov/\ is to provide sci-entifically sound assessments of reproductivehealth hazards associated with human exposure tochemicals, to make these assessments publiclyavailable, and to build an electronic resource con-taining information concerning human reproduc-

1 The NIH’s National Cancer Institute (NCI) was one of theoriginal charter agencies of the National Toxicology Program;however, the NCI Carcinogenesis Bioassay Program wastransferred to the NIEHS in 1981. The NCI remains active inthe Program through membership on the NTP ExecutiveCommittee.


tive health. The CERHR chemical nomination andreview process is described in detail on the CERHRWeb site. This process is to culminate in an ExpertPanel Report, two to three of which are expectedto be prepared each year to be published inEn6ironmental Health Perspecti6es and added to theCERHR web site. The CERHR Chemical StatusTable provides a listing of chemicals nominated forreview by CERHR for potential adverse reproduc-tive or developmental health effects. While thistable provides information on the nominated chem-ical’s progress through the CERHR selection pro-cess it does not necessarily indicate that it is areproductive or developmental toxicant.

2.4. TSCA Interagency Testing Committee (ITC)Bhttp://www.epa.go6/opptintr/itc\

Created under the Toxic Substances Control Act(TSCA), the TSCA Interagency Testing Committee(ITC), representing 16 US government organiza-tions, is responsible for prioritizing and selectingchemicals for information reporting and testing tomeet the coordinated data needs of its memberagencies.

As part of its information-gathering process theITC develops dossiers for chemicals under reviewand decides which chemicals should be recom-mended to the EPA Administrator for addition tothe TSCA Section 4(e) Priority Testing List. ThePriority Testing List can be searched via the ITCPublic Information Access Page Bhttp://tsca-itc.syrres.com/Chemicals/\ ITC reports docu-menting its decisions can also be accessed via theITC site. Those reports are also published in theFederal Register, accessible via either EPA’s Website or the Government Printing Office. Moreinformation on the ITC can be found on the ITCHome Page.

2.5. Chemical Weapons Con6ention (CWC)Bhttp://www.cwc.go6\

The Chemical Weapons Convention Home Pagemay seem an unconventional selection for an articleof this nature, but the site was developed to provideinformation to help the US comply with reportingand inspection requirements of the Chemical

Weapons Convention (CWC), a global treaty thatbans chemical weapons. The purpose of this site isto inform US industry of its rights and obligationsunder the CWC regulations of the Department ofCommerce’s (DOC) Bureau of Export Administra-tion (BXA), which jointly sponsors the site with theState Department’s Bureau of Arms Control. Al-though the US does not manufacture chemicalweapons, it does deal with a number of dual-usechemicals that can be used to produce chemicalweapons. US companies engaged in activities in-volving certain chemicals may be required to sub-mit reports to the DOC and may be subject toinspection by the Organization for the Prohibitionof Chemical Weapons (OPCW), the internationalbody that administers the treaty.

3. US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

EPA is one of the most widely known indepen-dent US government agencies possessing toxicolog-ical information. (For information on otherindependent agencies see section 5.)

4. Individual Cabinet-level departments andsubunits

4.1. En6ironmental Protection Agency (EPA)�http://www.epa.go6�

EPA was created in 1970 to consolidate existingpollution control agencies. As an agency it ismandated under laws such as the Toxic SubstancesControl Act, Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, andSuperfund to identify hazards and risks posed bychemicals and other pollutants. See the article byPoore in this issue (Poore, 2001) for more informa-tion on toxicology information resources main-tained by EPA.

4.2. Department of Health and Human Ser6ices(DHHS) Bhttp://www.dhhs.go6\

4.2.1. National Institutes of Health (NIH)Bhttp://www.nih.go6\

4.2.1.1. National Library of Medicine (NLM) Bhttp://www.nlm.nih.go6\ . Foremost among these


resources is the National Library of Medicine(NLM). NLM is the national medical library ofthe US. As such, it is the premier source ofmedical and toxicological information in thecountry, if not the world. NLM’s Toxicologicaland Environmental Health InformationProgram (TEHIP) Bhttp://www.sis.nlm.nih.gov/tehip.cfm\ administers many toxicological infor-mation resources. These include TOXNETBhttp://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov\ , a network of toxi-cological databases, and TOXLINE, a databasecontaining subfiles from a variety of sources, in-cluding US government and internationalsources. (For a full description of the resourcesavailable from NLM see the article by Wexler inthis issue.

4.2.2. National Institute of En6ironmental HealthSciences (NIEHS) Bhttp://www.niehs.nih.go6/\

The NIH institute that deals most directly withenvironmental health and toxicology issues is theNational Institute of Environmental Health Sci-ences (NIEHS). NIEHS achieves its mission ofunderstanding environmental causes of diseasesthrough multidisciplinary biomedical researchprograms, prevention and intervention efforts,and communication strategies that encompasstraining, education, technology transfer, and com-munity outreach. Its Scientific Research page Bhttp://www.niehs.nih.gov/external/scirsrch.htm\contains links to descriptions of NIEHS researchprograms, including initiatives dealing with topicsranging from children’s health issues such aschildhood cancer and cleft palate birth defects toParkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and other neurodegener-ative diseases.

The ultimate aim of one NIEHS project, theNIEHS Environmental Genome Project Bhttp://www.niehs.nih.gov/envgenom/concept.htm\ , isto understand why certain genetic patterns in-crease susceptibility to environmental disease. TheNIEHS Microarray Center Bhttp://dir.niehs.nih.gov/microarray/\ will use DNAmicroarray technology for the study of gene se-quence, structure, and expression. The site con-tains a description of the technology as it exists atthe NIEHS, how it can be applied to studies in

environmental health, some sample data, as wellas proposal and sample submission forms forinterested investigators.

The Superfund Basic Research Program Bhttp://benson.niehs.nih.gov/sbrp/\ is focused ontwo goals: one, advancing society’s understandingof the human and ecological risks from hazardoussubstances, and two, developing new environmen-tal technologies for the cleanup of Superfundsites. More information regarding the struc-ture of the program and its use of grants forsupporting research can be found on the SBRPWeb page.

NIEHS and NTP also maintain the Environ-mental Health Information Service (EHIS) Bhttp://ehis.niehs.nih.gov\ . While much of theinformation contained in EHIS is freely accessi-ble, other information can be accessed only bysubscribers2. For example, access to the Report onCarcinogens is free, while access to NIEHS jour-nal En6ironmental Health Perspecti6es (EHP) islimited. One can search EHP and view the tableof contents for individual issues as well as ab-stracts of articles, but access to the full text isrestricted.

EHP includes peer-reviewed editorials and re-views on topics of current interest, research arti-cles, meeting reports, news items, and featuressuch as ‘Grand Rounds in EnvironmentalMedicine’, a section dedicated to the examinationand evaluation of actual cases studies of patients.EHP is especially interested in articles concernedwith mechanisms of toxicity and new approachesfor detecting or remedying environmental dam-age. EHP Supplements are monographs of envi-

2 The EHIS Fee Schedule Bhttp://ehis.niehs.nih.gov/docs/admin/fee–info.html\ lists fees from US$25 for students toUS$57 for individual Internet access only. Individual rates forEHIS plus copies of printed publications range from US$157to 400, depending which publications are selected. Educationaland governmental accounts can range from US$419 for 1–250users to US$1558 for 251–1000 users and one copy each ofEHP, EHP Supplements, and NTP Technical Reports). Cor-porate accounts for one to ten users range from US$838 up toUS$5479 for more than 50 users (plus one copy each of EHP,EHP Supplements, and NTP Technical Reports).


ronmentally relevant topics published as supple-ments to the journal. Topics recently covered byEHP Supplements include Developing Brain andEnvironment, Trichloroethylene Health Risks,and the Carcinogenic Potency Database. One sup-plement each year is dedicated to a review ofenvironmental health issues. The full texts of arti-cles from both EHP and the supplements are onlyavailable to subscribers, but abstracts can beviewed without charge.

Rodent Historical Controls, other NTP data-bases, and CERHR’s Chemical Status Table arealso available via EHIS, as is the National Associ-ation of Physicians for the Environment’s(NAPE) Environment & Health Directory. Thisdirectory Bhttp://www.napenet.org/directory/\contains information on Members of Congressand how to contact them. It also lists key person-nel from NIEHS and other agencies discussed inthis article.

4.2.3. National Cancer Institute (NCI)Bhttp://www.nci.nih.go6/\

NCI’s CancerNet™Bhttp://cancernet.nci.nih.gov/ provides comprehensive information about awide variety of cancer topics; access to cancerliterature and statistics; and a link to PDQ® Bhttp://cancernet.nci.nih.gov/pdq.html\ , a cancerinformation database which provides cancer in-formation summaries that are updated monthly,as well as information on facets of cancer such asrisk factors, genetics of specific cancers, and in-herited cancer syndromes.

NCI’s Surveillance, Epidemiology & End Re-sults (SEER) Program Bhttp://seer.cancer.gov\is the most authoritative source of information oncancer incidence and survival in the US. TheSEER Database includes cancer incidence andsurvival data, patient demographics, and otherinformation from registries covering approxi-mately 14% of the US population. Information onmore than 2.5 million in situ and invasive cancercases is included in the SEER database, and ap-proximately 160 000 new cases are accessioned eachyear within the SEER catchment areas. The data-base is updated annually and is available in bothprint and electronic formats. Data from the data-base are included in an annual cancer statistics

review (the most recent being SEER CancerStatistics Re6iew, 1973–1997); in publicationssuch as Cancer Rates and Risks (4th Edition,1996), which provides international cancer inci-dence and mortality rates; and in a public-usedata file available on CD-ROM. SEER data andresources are available free of charge. Instructionsfor obtaining the software, publications, and elec-tronic data are available at the SEER Web site.Other publications include the Atlas of CancerMortality, 1950–1994 Bhttp://cancer.gov/at-las\ , which displays the geographic patterns ofcancer death rates throughout the US for about40 cancers. Many other resources are accessiblethrough NCI’s Resources for Scientists page Bhttp://www.nci.nih.gov/scienceresources/\ .

4.2.4. General NIH resources and other NIHinstitutes

The NIH Scientific Resources page Bhttp://www.nih.gov/science/\ includes links to researchinformation, NIH research labs on the Web, andthe NIH Office of Animal Care and Use, andmany other resources. NIH sponsors several data-bases containing general research information,among which are the Computer Retrieval of In-formation on Scientific Projects (CRISP) databaseBhttps://www-commons.cit.nih.gov/crisp/\ andthe Combined Health Information Database(CHID) Bhttp://chid.nih.gov/\ , which may alsoinclude information of interest to toxicologists.

CRISP is a searchable database of federallyfunded biomedical research projects conducted atuniversities, hospitals, and other research institu-tions. The database includes projects funded byNIH and other agencies within the Department ofHealth and Human Services. CHID is a biblio-graphic database produced by health-relatedagencies of the Federal Government. It describesa number of health information and health educa-tion resources, a number of which may provideaccess to toxicological information and data.Other institutes within the National Institutes ofHealth may also focus on specific diseases, organsystems, or processes. Within each of these re-searchers can search for information on chemicaland other environmental factors that may causeor increase the risk of developing a disease. A full


list of institutes and offices can be found on theNIH Web site Bhttp://www.nih.gov/icd/\ .

4.2.5. Agency for Toxic Substances and DiseaseRegistry (ATSDR)Bhttp://www.atsdr.cdc.go6/\

The mission of ATSDR is to prevent exposureand adverse human health effects and diminishedquality of life associated with exposure to haz-ardous substances from waste sites, unplannedreleases, and other sources of pollution present inthe environment.

ATSDR publishes a large number of informa-tion resources and tools, many of which are avail-able through its Web site or in other digitalformats. ATSDR information resources includethe Top 20 Hazardous Substances list (ATSDR/EPA Priority List), the ATSDR ToxicologicalProfiles, Public Health Statements, ToxFAQs™,ATSDR Minimal Risk Levels (MRLs), and theHazDat database. ATSDR also publishes a num-ber of tools and guidance documents for assessinghazards and risks.

The Top 20 Hazardous Substances list is re-quired by the Comprehensive Environmental Re-sponse, Compensation, and Liability Act(CERCLA, also known as ‘Superfund’). Thechemicals on the list are those most commonlyfound at facilities on the CERCLA National Pri-orities List (NPL). The full list of 275 priorityhazardous substances for 1999 is also availablethrough the ATSDR Website Bhttp://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/99list.html\ . The priority listis revised annually.

CERCLA also requires that ATSDR preparetoxicological profiles for each substance includedon the priority list of hazardous substances; ascer-tain significant human exposure levels (SHELs)for hazardous substances in the environment, aswell as associated health effects; and identify dataneeds associated with the substances. Toxicologi-cal profiles are developed from the priority list of275 substances as well as for selected substancesrelated to Department of Defense (DOD) andDepartment of Energy (DOE) sites. So far, about250 toxicological profiles have been published orare under development as ‘finals’ or ‘drafts forpublic comment’. The profiles are reviewed ap-

proximately every 3 years and are revised basedon public comments received.

The ATSDR Toxicological Profiles include awide range of chemical and toxicological informa-tion. A Public Health Statement provides, inquestion and answer format, a non-technical de-scription of the substance being reviewed, its fatein the environment, possible exposure routes, po-tential health effects, medical tests that can deter-mine exposure, and recommendations made bythe federal government to protect human healthfrom the effects of the substance.

Available toxicological information and epi-demiological evaluations of the substance are ex-amined, summarized, and interpreted in order toascertain the levels of significant human exposurefor the substance and the associated acute, sub-acute, and chronic health effects. Populations thatmay be particularly susceptible to the substance’seffects are also identified. A determination ofwhether adequate information on the health ef-fects of each substance is then made. Data needsare identified and testing to fill data gaps is rec-ommended. Profiles also include extensive infor-mation about substances ranging from theirphysical and chemical characteristics to produc-tion and use data to environmental releases andfate to federal and state regulations and advi-sories. Publication of draft profiles is announcedin the Federal Register; they may be requestedfrom ATSDR. Once finalized the profiles are dis-tributed by the National Technical InformationService (NTIS). Unfortunately, ATSDR has notpublished the full text of the Toxicological Profi-les on its Web site, though a subset of them hasbeen published by a commercial publisher onCD-ROM3. The Public Health Statements con-tained in the Toxicological Profiles are, however,available on the ATSDR Web site.

ToxFAQs™ Bhttp://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/tox-faq.html\ a series of fact sheets about hazardoussubstances which contain information excerptedfrom the ATSDR Toxicological Profiles and Pub-

3 ATSDR’s Toxicological Profiles on CD-ROM (Version 3:12000). CRC Press Bhttp://www.crcpress.com/\ CatalogNumber: 2150, ISBN: 0849321506, Price: $295.00, PublicationDate: 05/15/00.


lic Health Statements, are available for more than100 chemicals. Each fact sheet provides answersto the most frequently asked questions (FAQs)about exposure to hazardous substances foundaround hazardous waste sites and the effects ofexposure on human health. The electronic versionof the ToxFAQs™ includes a molecular model ofthe chemical in both GIF and XYZ (three-dimen-sional viewer) formats. It also includes the Na-tional Fire Protection Agency (NFPA) 704Chemical Hazard Label for a substance whenavailable. NFPA 704 labels allow one to quicklyidentify the health, flammability, and reactivityhazards associated with specific chemicals.

The ATSDR Minimal Risk Levels (MRLs) forHazardous Substances Bhttp://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/mrls.html\ are estimates of the dailyhuman exposure to a hazardous substance that islikely to be without appreciable risk of adversenon-cancer health effects over a specified durationof exposure. They were derived through a processsimilar to that used for the Environmental Protec-tion Agency’s (EPA) Reference Dose (RfD) andReference Concentration (RfC) for identifyingsubstance-specific health guidance levels for non-neoplastic endpoints. More detailed informationon how MRLs are derived and used can be foundon the MRLs Web page.

The Hazardous Substance Release/Health Ef-fects Database (HazDat) Database Bhttp://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/hazdat.html\ is a scientificand administrative database that provides accessto information on releases of hazardous sub-stances from Superfund sites (or during certainevents) and their effects on the health of humanpopulations. HazDat contains information on de-tailed characteristics of sites and emergencyevents, as well as substance-specific informationon the contaminants released. It also containssite-related data from the EPA ComprehensiveEnvironmental Response, Compensation, and Li-ability Information System (CERCLIS) database.In addition to several standard queries, one canalso view a clickable state map which one can useto retrieve a list of HazDat sites by state. Annualreports from the Hazardous Substances Emer-gency Events Surveillance (HSEES) program canbe found by searching on ‘HSEES’.

The tools ATSDR provides on its Web siteinclude the Public Health Assessment GuidanceManual Bhttp://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/HAC/HAGM/\ and Guidance for ATSDR HealthStudies. The latter describes the process ATSDRuses when considering health studies for commu-nities that might be exposed to hazardoussubstances.

ATSDR Prevention Guidelines Bhttp://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/prevent.html\ provide guid-ance on evaluating and treating personspotentially exposed to hazardous substances inthe environment. The guidelines include such doc-uments as Managing Hazardous Materials Inci-dents and Medical Management Guidelines forAcute Chemical Exposures Bhttp://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/mmg.html\ . Case Studies in En6iron-mental Medicine Bhttp://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/HEC/csem.html\ are a series ofself-instructional publications designed to helpprimary care providers identify populations atrisk of exposure to particular substances, possiblesources of exposure, exposure pathways, biologi-cal fate of the substances, and physiological ef-fects the substances may cause; how to clinicallyevaluate, treat, and manage exposed persons; andhow to comply with standards and regulations forthe substances. Continuing medical educationcredits are offered by ATSDR in support of thisseries. Unfortunately, the ‘Lead Toxicity ‘ casestudy was the only volume in the series availableonline at the time this article was written. Otherdocuments available in electronic format on Website include ATSDR’s newsletter Hazardous Sub-stances & Public Health.

4.2.6. Centers for Disease Control and Pre6ention(CDC) Bhttp://www.cdc.go6\

In addition to ATSDR, another importantsource of toxicological information within CDC isthe National Center for Environmental Health(NCEH) Bhttp://www.cdc.gov/nceh/ncehhome.htm\ .

NCEH’s mission is to identify environmentalcauses of illness, disability, and death. Among theprogram it administers are ones to identify causesof birth defects, to provide support in environ-mental emergencies, identify environmental haz-


ards and their associated health effects, to dealwith the demilitarization of chemical weapons,and to research the health impact of chemicalexposures during the Persian Gulf War. NCEHmaintains the Environmental Health Listserv Bhttp://www.cdc.gov/nceh/ehserv/ephs/factsheets/listserv.htm\ to share information with others inthe environmental public health profession.

Other CDC information resources include Mor-bidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)Bhttp://www2.cdc.gov/mmwr/\ , which is prob-ably familiar to most readers. It contains sum-maries of significant disease outbreaks,longitudinal studies, and other reports. Whilemany may not be of interest to some readers, atoxicological incident reported in MMWR doesindicate that it has some particular significance.

CDC WONDER Bhttp://wonder.cdc.gov\provides access to both numerical and textualdatabases such as SEER, CHID, Injury MortalityData, MMWR, NIOSH mortality data, and theCDC Prevention Guidelines database. Some ofthese databases contain information on morbid-ity, mortality, hospitalizations, surveillance of no-tifiable diseases, CDC reports and guidelines,census data, and bibliographies on health-relatedtopics.

CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics(NCHS) Bhttp://www.cdc.gov/nchs/\ containsseveral databases with information about a widevariety of public health issues. Toxicologists mayfind some resources such as Injury and PoisoningEpisodes and Conditions: National Health Inter-6iew Sur6ey, 1997 of more value than others.

‘CDC and ATSDR Electronic Information Re-sources for Health Officers’ (Friede and O’Car-roll, 1996) Bhttp://www.cdc.gov/elecinfo.htm\identifies some of the Centers for Disease Controland Prevention’s (CDC) more important informa-tion resource offerings, which make public healthinformation accessible via computer and auto-mated telephone systems and on electronic media(diskette and CD-ROM). While useful, this publi-cation dates from 1994. Since then many changeshave occurred in how some of the resources listedcan be accessed.

4.2.7. National Institute for Occupational Safetyand Health (NIOSH)Bhttp://www.cdc.go6/niosh\

Another unit of the CDC is the National Insti-tute for Occupational Safety and Health(NIOSH). Its responsibilities include investigatingpotentially hazardous working conditions; evalu-ating chemical and other hazards in the work-place; identifying and disseminating methods forpreventing disease, injury, and disability; and con-ducting research and providing scientifically validrecommendations for protecting workers. As partof its responsibilities to disseminate informationto protect workers’ safety and health NIOSHcompiles a number of databases and other infor-mation resources.

The two most widely known NIOSH databasesare the Registry of Toxic Effects of ChemicalSubstances (RTECS®) and the NIOSH TechnicalInformation Center (NIOSHTIC®) databases.The data recorded in RTECS® are not evaluatedby NIOSH. In addition, the policy of NIOSH hasbeen to record in RTECS® the lowest dose orlowest exposure concentration reported to causethe tabulated effect rather than a historical recordof doses or concentrations reported in studies(though presumably some of those data can befound in older versions of RTECS®).

RTECS® itself is not freely available on theInternet, though a number of vendors make itavailable online or on CD-ROM4. NIOSH hasmade available the ‘Comprehensive Guide to theRTECS® ‘5 on its Web site in PDF format Bhttp://www.cdc.gov/niosh/97-119.html\ .

RTECS® contains chemical identification infor-mation, including chemical name, synonyms, andidentification numbers, molecular weights andformulas, and data on reported health effects.Information about reviews, standards and regula-tions, and NIOSH standards development andsurveillance data are also included.

4 NIOSH Databases Vendor List. Bhttp://www.cdc.gov/niosh/vendors.html\ .

5 NIOSH (1997). ‘Comprehensive Guide to the RTECS®. ‘DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 97-119, July 1997.


The NIOSHTIC® database was originally cre-ated in 1973. It contained citations of scientificstudies and reports on occupational safety andhealth from the open literature as well as fromNIOSH-supported activities (including contractsand grants). NIOSH continues to supportRTECS®, but after soliciting public comments onthe fate of both databases (NIOSH, 1996) decidedto redirect its resources with respect toNIOSHTIC®. The focus was shifted from reviewof a broad range of occupational safety andhealth literature to only including NIOSH-sup-ported or funded research (NIOSH, 1998). InOctober 1998 NIOSH offered to license the exclu-sive use of the NIOSHTIC® trademark to a com-mercial vendor willing to maintain the databaseaccording to certain specifications6. The CanadianCentre for Occupational Health and Safety(CCOHS) Bhttp://www.ccohs.ca\ now main-tains NIOSHTIC® as part of its OSHLINE data-base. The NIOSHTIC® database will still besearchable via the National Library of Medicine’sTOXLINE database as well as through othervendors. NIOSHTIC-2 Bwww.cdc.gov/niosh/nishtc-2.html\ already contains more than16 000 citations identifying occupational safetyand health documents and publications that werepublished between the years of 1971 and 1998(NIOSH, 2000). (When available, abstracts will beincluded).

The NIOSH Web site provides access to anumber of other NIOSH databases Bhttp://www.cdc.gov/niosh/database.html\ containinginformation related to chemical hazards. Amongthe databases included are NIOSH Criteria Docu-ments, Immediately Dangerous to Life or Health(IDLH) values, International Chemical SafetyCards, NIOSH Manual of Analytical Methods,NIOSHTIC-2, Occupational Safety and HealthGuidelines for Chemical Hazards, OSHA 1988Permissible Exposure Levels, NIOSH PocketGuide to Chemical Hazards, and Specific MedicalTests Published for OSHA Regulated Substances.

NIOSH Criteria Documents Bhttp://www.cdc.gov/niosh/critdoc2.html\ generally

contain a critical review of the scientific and tech-nical information available on the prevalence ofhazards, the existence of safety and health risks,and the adequacy of methods to identify andcontrol hazards. Recommendations for a numberof methods to minimize safety and health risks areoffered.

NIOSH also prepares other publications con-taining occupational safety and health recommen-dations and reviews such as Occupational HazardAssessments (OHAs), Special Hazard Reviews(SHRs), and Joint Occupational Health Docu-ments (JOHDs). OHAs and SHRs are written tocomplement NIOSH recommendations for stan-dards. They assess safety and health problems andrecommend appropriate methods for control andmonitoring. JOHDs are developed with foreigngovernment agencies.

Some of the above publications are not avail-able on the Web site but are, however, includedon a two-disc Criteria Documents Plus CD-ROM.The CD-ROM contains the full-text of 142 Crite-ria Documents, Special Occupational Hazard Re-views, Occupational Hazard Assessments, andJoint Occupational Health Documents. Addition-ally, it contains the full-text of 57 Current Intelli-gence Bulletins (CIBs) and 43 NIOSH Alerts. ThisCD-ROM set and the accompanying Users Guideis available from the National Technical Informa-tion Service (NTIS)7. Some documents may alsobe obtained in hardcopy from NIOSH, NationalTechnical Information Service (NTIS), or theGovernment Printing Office (GPO).

Immediately Dangerous to Life or Health Con-centrations (IDLHs) were originally determinedfor 387 substances in the mid-1970’s for use inassigning respiratory protection equipment. Sincethen, the IDLHs have been reviewed and, (ifappropriate) revised. In this document, IDLHsare listed with the basis and references for thecurrent values as well as the original IDLHs andtheir documentation Bhttp://www.cdc.gov/niosh/idlh/idlh-1.html\ .

7 National Technical Information Service (NTIS),Springfield, VA 22151. Telephone Number 703/487-4650/Fax(703) 321-8546. Stock Number PB97-502-082. Domestic cost:$60.00.6 63 FR 55397, October 15, 1998.


International Chemical Safety Cards Bhttp://www.cdc.gov/niosh/ipcs/icstart.html\ are a jointproduct of the World Health Organization(WHO), International Programme on ChemicalSafety (IPCS), and the International Labour Or-ganization (ILO). ICSCs summarize essentialhealth and safety information on chemicals fortheir use at the ‘shop floor ‘ level. There are twoEnglish language versions of the ICSC’s availableon the NIOSH Web site; an International Versionpublished by the WHO/European Union and aUS National version made available by NIOSH.The ICSC’s are also available in several otherlanguages.

The NIOSH Manual of Analytical Methods(NMAM®) Bhttp://www.cdc.gov/niosh/nmam/nmampub.html\ is a collection of methods forsampling and analysis of contaminants in work-place air, and in the blood and urine of workerswho are occupationally exposed. The 4th editionof NMAM® is available on the NIOSH Web siteas a series of PDF files.

NIOSH Alerts Bhttp://www.cdc.gov/niosh/alerts2.html\ briefly present new informationabout occupational illnesses, injuries, and deaths.They are published as requests for assistance inpreventing, solving, and controlling newly iden-tified occupational hazards. NIOSH Current In-telligence Bulletins (CIBs) Bhttp://www.cdc.gov/niosh/cibs2.html\ review and evaluate new andemerging information about occupational haz-ards. CIBs are issued to draw attention to apreviously unrecognized hazard, report new dataon a known hazard, or disseminate informationabout hazard controls. Both NIOSH Alerts andCIBs can also be found on the Criteria Docu-ments Plus CD-ROM.

The NIOSH Pocket Guide to Chemical Haz-ards (NPG) Online Version Bhttp://www.cdc.gov/niosh/npg/pgdstart.html\ includesthe following: chemical names and synonyms; var-ious identification numbers; NIOSH RELs andIDLHs; OSHA Permissible Exposure Limits(PELs); and other information to help workersquickly identify and respond to chemical hazards.A Palm™ version of the NIOSH Pocket Guide isavailable as shareware from PocketIH SoftwareBhttp://PocketIH.8m.com/\ and selected

Palm™ software resellers. The data contained inthis portable version is based on the 1997 versionof the printed guide, and reflects any online up-dates made by NIOSH through December 1999.

Access to some of the resources listed above, aswell as to other previously published NIOSHdocuments, is also provided through the NIOSHChemical Occupational Safety and HealthDatabase Bhttp://www.cdc.gov/niosh/coshbase.html\ . Among the materials included in thisdatabase are NIOSH Alerts, Chemical ProtectiveClothing Guidance, Current Intelligence Bulletins,Hazard Reviews, Immediately Dangerous to Lifeand Health values, OSHA summary statementsfrom the 1989 PEL project, and Respirator Rec-ommendations (from the NPG).

A Companion to the NIOSH Pocket Guide toChemical Hazards: Recommendations for Chemi-cal Protective Clothing Bhttp://www.cdc.gov/niosh/ncpc1.html\ provides recommendationsfor chemical protective clothing (CPC) for thechemicals listed in the NIOSH Pocket Guide toChemical Hazards (June 1997 ed.). These recom-mendations are based on another published work,Quick Selection Guide to Chemical ProtectiveClothing, 3rd ed. (Forsberg and Mansdorf, 1997).The Companion to the Pocket Guide providesgeneral recommendations for skin protection ac-cording to whether there is a dermal hazard po-tential (including that of frostbite from directcontact with liquefied gas) or whether there mightbe inadvertent contamination of the skin by dustor powder which might later be ingested orinhaled.

Occupational Safety and Health Guidelines forChemical Hazards summarize information on per-missible exposure limits, chemical and physicalproperties, and health hazards. They provide rec-ommendations for medical surveillance, respira-tory protection, and personal protection andsanitation practices for specific chemicals thathave Federal occupational safety and healthguidelines. A Master Index of OccupationalHealth Guidelines for Chemical Hazards Bhttp://www.cdc.gov/niosh/chem-inx.html\ links to theoriginal guidelines and, if available, revised guide-lines as PDF files.


OSHA summary statements and documentationfrom the 1989 PEL Project Bhttp://www.cdc.gov/niosh/pel88/pelstart.html\ includes OSHAcomments from the 1988 Final Rule on Air Con-taminants Project. (The PEL rule was remandedby the US Circuit Court of Appeals and the limitsare not currently in force.) Specific Medical TestsPublished in the Literature for OSHA RegulatedSubstances Bhttp://www.cdc.gov/niosh/nmed/medstart.html\ lists the specific medical testspublished in the literature for OSHA regulatedsubstances as well as the editor or author and fullreference information.

The 1990–2000 NIOSH publications list Bhttp://www.cdc.gov/niosh/publistd.html\ listsmany other documents available electronically,but some older ones can only be ordered inhardcopy format (links are provided to lists ofolder publications). Publications like the NIOSHBibliography 1999 Bhttp://www.cdc.gov/niosh/nioshbib.html\ may be useful for identifyingpublications of interest since it includes journalarticles, book chapters, hazard evaluation andtechnical assistance reports, fatality assessments,technology news, electronic media, and even un-published papers. Other publications such as TheAtlas of Respiratory Disease Mortality, UnitedStates: 1982–1993, which portrays data on mor-tality based on lung cancer and other respiratorydiseases, can also be found online. Instructionsfor subscribing to the NIOSH listserv Bhttp://www.cdc.gov/niosh/gosubcdc.html\ are pro-vided for those who want to be kept up to date onNIOSH news. The NIOSH home page also con-tains a topic index Bhttp://www.cdc.gov/niosh/toplst.html\ for those who want to browse.Examples of topics of possible interest to toxicol-ogists include: Asbestos, Chemical Safety/MSDSs,and Organic Solvents.

4.2.8. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)Bhttp://www.fda.go6\

FDA is responsible for regulating a wide rangeof substances, from drugs to cosmetics to sub-stances that are added to (or that come intocontact with) food. The FDA Web site provideslinks to a number of resources toxicologists mightfind useful, including toxicology research, foods

and food safety, cosmetics, dietary supplements,human and animal drugs, and biotechnology.

The ‘Toxicology Research’ link leads to the website for the National Center for ToxicologicalResearch (NCTR) Bhttp://www.fda.gov/nctr/in-dex.html\ . Its research accomplishments andplans are spelled out in a series of PDF files under‘Science at NCTR’. These documents discussNCTR research in such areas as biometry andrisk assessment, molecular epidemiology, microbi-ology, and several toxicological specialties. NCTRalso engages in technology transfer through Co-operative Research and Development Agreements(CRADAs). On-going research at the NCTR in-cludes an interagency agreement (IAG) withNIEHS focusing on specific facets of estrogenicendocrine disruptor activity.

The ‘Foods’ link on the FDA home page leadsto the Web page for the Center for Food Safetyand Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) Bhttp://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/list.html\ . CFSAN programareas include food additives and premarket ap-proval, food labeling and nutrition, pesticides andchemical contaminants, cosmetics, dietary supple-ments, and biotechnology.

The ‘Food Additives and Premarket Approval’page contains links to a number of resources thatmay be of interest to toxicologists. Of special noteare links to EAFUS: A Food Additive Database;guidance for submitting petitions for food addi-tives, color additives, or GRAS status to CFSAN;and other technical documents for industry. Theinformation in the EAFUS (‘Everything’ Addedto Food in the United States’) database Bhttp://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/�dms/eafus.html\ is com-piled by the Priority-based Assessment of FoodAdditives (PAFA) program from industry submis-sions to FDA. The database contains administra-tive, chemical and toxicological information onover 2000 substances directly added to food, in-cluding substances regulated by FDA as direct,‘secondary’ direct, and color additives, as well asGenerally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) and prior-sanctioned substances. Despite the name, thedatabase contains only a partial list of all foodingredients that may in fact be lawfully added tofood, because under federal law some ingredients


may be added to food under a GRAS determina-tion made independently from the FDA. The listcontains many, but not all, of the substancessubject to independent GRAS determinations.

They list what type of toxicological review eachchemical has gone through. The actual reviewsand data are available through the CFSANdocket. Some data are available on a CD-ROM(Clydesdale, 1997) produced under a cooperativeagreement with FDA. At the time this article waswritten the database was not searchable via theInternet, though FDA has indicated its intent tomake it more publicly available8.

The link to ‘Guidance for Submitting Petitions’Bhttp://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/�dms/opa-toc.html\brings up the ‘Submitting a Food Additive, ColorAdditive, or GRAS Petition to the Office of Pre-market Approval’ page. This page includes list-ings for Code of Federal Regulation (CFR)sections (21 CFR) and guidance documents forsubmitting petitions, premarket notification re-quirements for food contact substances, chemistryguidance and reference documents, and CFR sec-tions and guidance documents dealing with toxi-cology and environmental impact considerations.Of special note are such documents as Toxicolog-ical Testing of Food Additives, 1997. Some docu-ments, such as FDA’s 1982 ‘Redbook I’(Toxicological Principles for the Safety Assessmentof Direct Food Additi6es and Color Additi6es Usedin Food) and the Food Chemicals Codex are cited,but are not available electronically on the FDAWeb site (though instructions for ordering areprovided). However, while the 3rd edition of theFood Chemicals Codex (which is incorporated byreference in the CFR) is not available online, the4th edition and supplements are available on theNational Academy Press web site Bhttp://books.nap.edu/catalog/5149.html\ .

The ‘Technical Documents for Industry‘ pageBhttp://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/�dms/opa-tech.html

\ contains links to the EAFUS and petitionsubmission pages discussed above, as well as toother pages on topics such as food labeling, notifi-

cation programs, petition status, partial lists ofenzyme preparations and microbial derived ingre-dients used in food, and compliance and enforce-ment materials.

One element of food safety with more of afocus on biological organisms is the hazard pre-sented by foodborne illnesses. CFSAN has pre-pared the Foodborne Pathogenic Microorganismsand Natural Toxins Handbook, also known as the‘Bad Bug Book ‘ Bhttp://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/�mow/intro.html\ . This handbook brings to-gether in one place basic information from FDAand other government agencies on foodbornepathogenic bacteria, parasitic protozoa andworms, viruses, and natural toxins.

The ‘Food Labeling and Nutrition‘ page Bhttp://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/label.html\ discusses thenew food label requirements, provides guidanceon food labeling for industry and importers, andcontains links to information about nutrition anddietary guidelines.

The ‘Pesticides and Chemical Contaminants‘page Bhttp://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/� lrd/pestadd.html\ contains information on FDA’s role inregulating pesticides, metals, chemical contami-nants, and natural toxins. In addition, it containslinks to FDA’s Total Diet Study (TDS) Data andReports page. The ‘Pesticides’ section containsguidance documents, links to residue monitoringreports and databases, and technical referencesincluding the Glossary of Pesticide Chemicals, pes-ticide analytical behavior data, and FDA’s Pesti-cide Analytical Manual. The ‘Metals’ sectioncontains documents on lead and mercury as wellas guidance documents for trace elements inseafood and a newly updated Elemental AnalysisManual. The ‘Chemical Contaminants’ section in-cludes many links to guidance documents ondioxins, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), andother chemicals that have been found to contami-nate food. The ‘Natural Toxins’ section links toseveral recently released documents concerningjuice and other food products that have beenadulterated with natural toxins.

The Total Diet Study page contains back-ground information on the program, data sum-maries of toxic and nutritional elements andpesticides found in TDS foods. Separate data files

8 Food and Drug Administration. ‘Food Additives;Threshold of Regulation for Substances Used in Food-Con-tact Articles. ‘ 60 FR 36581, July 17, 1995.


for elemental analyses and for pesticides and in-dustrial chemicals are provided. Under ‘Regula-tory Information’, the ‘Pesticides and ChemicalContaminants’ page also contains links to FDAguidance and regulations on bottled water, actionlevels for poisonous or deleterious substances inhuman food and animal feed, and otherdocuments.

The ‘Cosmetics’ page contains FDA require-ments and programs on cosmetic safety, regula-tory information for the cosmetics industry, linksto information on cosmetic products that con-sumers frequently inquire about, cosmetic labelinginformation, alerts about hazards from cosmetics,and announcements about meetings. Links todocuments explaining FDA’s authority in regulat-ing cosmetics and programs that FDA adminis-ters to oversee cosmetic safety are provided in the‘Cosmetics Safety’ section. This section also in-cludes a list of prohibited ingredients and how toreport adverse reactions to products to FDA. Thepage provides links to industry Web sites such asthose for the Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR)page Bhttp://www.cir-safety.org\ and the Cos-metic, Toiletry, and Fragrance Association(CTFA) Bhttp://www.ctfa.org\ since the cos-metics is much more self-regulated than some ofthe other industries FDA regulates.

The ‘Information for the Cosmetic Industry’page contains links to cosmetic regulations, guide-lines, and references. Among those are the Cos-metic Handbook for industry, the CosmeticLabeling Manual, and Cosmetic Good Manufac-turing Practice Guidelines. Other subjects listed onthe page include FDA’s Cosmetic Voluntary Reg-istration Program, color certification reports andother documents on color additives, and a catalogof publications for the food and cosmetics indus-tries Bhttp://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/�dms/indus-try.html\ . This last page lists materials byregulatory category (e.g., cosmetics) availablefrom both FDA and non-FDA sources, as well asthe Small Business Guide to FDA.

The ‘Consumer Complaints About CosmeticProducts’ page contains links to annual reportscompiled from the Cosmetic Adverse ReactionMonitoring Database of FDA’s Office of Cosmet-ics and Colors. These reports include adverse

reaction reports received through various FDAoffices and the FDA MedWatch Program. Theyinclude the type of cosmetic product, the manu-facturer and brand, the type of injury suffered,and the body parts affected.

The ‘Dietary Supplements’ page provides alarge number of links to documents on dietarysupplements. For decades, FDA regulated dietarysupplements as foods under the Federal Food,Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA). However,with the passage of the Dietary SupplementHealth and Education Act (DSHEA) of 1994 thepremarket safety evaluations previously requiredof dietary supplements were eliminated. Becauseof concerns about the safety of some dietarysupplements, FDA has posted warnings lists ofscheduled meetings to discuss particular supple-ments on this page.

The ‘Biotechnology’ page contains informationon FDA’s biotechnology policies, including recentannouncements regarding a reassessment of itspolicies in response to consumer concerns. A linkto the National Agricultural Library’s (NAL) Bio-technology Information Resource Web site Bhttp://www.nal.usda.gov/bic\ is also provided.The CFSAN page also contains links to suchinteragency programs as the National FoodSafety Initiative and FoodSafety.gov Bhttp://www.FoodSafety.gov\ .

Human drugs are regulated by FDA’s Centerfor Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) Bhttp://www.fda.gov/cder\ . Its home page in-cludes links to drug information, regulatoryguidance, and other documents. The ‘Drug Infor-mation’ page contains links to prescription druginformation, which includes new approvals and alink to the searchable Orange Book Bhttp://www.fda.gov/cder/ob/\ which lists approveddrug products and their therapeutic equivalenceevaluations. The ‘Drug Information’ page alsocontains links to pages about major drugs such as‘fen-phen ‘, thalidomide, and viagra; over-the-counter drugs; drug safety and side effects infor-mation; and public health alerts and warningletters. Links are also provided to FDA’s DrugMaster Files, which contain drug manufacturinginformation submitted to FDA; information onthe Drug Registration and Listing System; the


AIDS Clinical Trial Information Service (AC-TIS); FDA Oncology Tools; ClinicalTrials.Gov;and other resources. CDER’s ‘Regulatory Guid-ance ‘ page provides links to a wide variety ofdocuments describing CDER’s policies, proce-dures, and compliance activities as well as elec-tronic versions of forms for submittingapplications for new drug products.

Information on veterinary drugs can be ac-cessed through FDA’s Center for VeterinaryMedicine (CVM) home page Bhttp://www.fda.gov/cvm/\ . FDA Approved AnimalDrug Products are listed in the Green Book Bhttp://www.fda.gov/cvm/fda/greenbook/green-book.html\ , which is available in two formsonline, one a document-based version, the otheran online database system.

Consumers and health professionals who needto report adverse reactions and medical productproblems to FDA can do so through MedWatchBhttp://www.fda.gov/medwatch\ , FDA’s Med-ical Products Reporting Program. Instructions forreporting are provided, as are FDA reports, ‘DearHealth Professional ‘ letters, listings of drug label-ing changes, FDA enforcement reports, abrochure on food and drug interactions, and linksto the Special Nutritionals Adverse EventMonitoring System, Adverse Event ReportingSystem, and Annual Adverse Drug ExperienceReports.

Frequently requested FDA documents are alsoavailable in electronic format in FDA’s ElectronicFOIA Reading Room Bhttp://www.fda.gov/foi/foia2.htm\ . Links are provided to a handbookfor requesting information and records fromFDA, categories of documents available, and an-nual FOIA reports. The FDA Dockets Manage-ment page Bhttp://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets\ contains links to pages on FDA advi-sory committees, a list of all dockets on the site(with additional links to the documents for eachlisted docket), and other regulatory informationand resources. FDA’s Office of Regulatory Af-fairs (ORA) maintains a Science Referencespage Bhttp://www.fda.gov/ora/science–ref/de-fault.htm\ that contains links to the Total Dietand Pesticide Research Center, the LaboratoryProcedures Manual, and selected Laboratory In-

formation Bulletins describing new techniquesand analytical findings by ORA laboratories.

4.3. Occupational Safety and HealthAdministration (OSHA)

While OSHA Bhttp://www.osha.gov\ is aunit of the Department of Labor, rather than theDepartment of Health and Human Services, it islisted here because of the interest it shares withNIOSH in occupational safety and health. In theUS government’s approach to occupational safetyand health, NIOSH has been given the researchresponsibilities while OSHA has been given theregulatory and enforcement responsibilities. How-ever, OSHA still maintains a wide variety ofchemical information resources. A subject indexBhttp://www.osha-slc.gov/html/subject-in-dex.html\ provides access to such links as Haz-ardous & Toxic Substances and HazardCommunications, which in turn includes links toinformation about Material Safety Data Sheets(MSDSs). Readers will also find links to manyother, more specific subjects such as analyticalmethods, OSHA-approved blood lead laborato-ries, carcinogens, and chemical samplinginformation.

As a regulatory agency OSHA publishes itsproposed and final rules in the Federal Register.They are gathered on the OSHA Federal RegisterNotices page. Once finalized, regulations are pub-lished in the Code of Federal Regulations (seebelow). OSHA has made these available on itsWeb site as well. Of particular note is 29 CFRPart 1910 Subpart Z — Toxic and HazardousSubstances, part of which contains the OSHALimits for Air Contaminants. In addition to thetable, specific chemical substances may havesafety data sheets, technical guidelines, medicalsurveillance guidelines, and sampling and analyti-cal methods available.

4.4. Department of Agriculture (USDA)Bhttp://www.usda.go6\

USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS)Bhttp://www.ams.usda.gov/\ is responsible formaintaining the Pesticide Data Program (PDP)B http://www.ams.usda.gov/science/pdp/\ ,


which began to collect data on pesticide residuesin food in 1991. PDP data are used by EPA tosupport its dietary risk assessment process andpesticide registration process, by the FDA torefine sampling for enforcement of tolerances, bythe USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service to sup-port export of US commodities and by its Eco-nomic Research Service to evaluate pesticidealternatives, and by the public sector to addressfood safety issues. The pesticide residues trackedinclude antibiotics, sulfonamides, arsenic, chlori-nated hydrocarbons and organophosphates,halofuginone, ivermectin, and levamisole.

USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service(FSIS) Bhttp://www.fsis.usda.gov/\ publishesthe National Residue Plan (the ‘Blue Book’) andthe National Residue Program Domestic ResidueData Book (the ‘Red Book ‘). Electronic versionsof both publications can be found on a list of theFSIS Office of Public Health and Science (OPHS)publications Bhttp://www.fsis.usda.gov/OPHS/ophspubs.htm\ .

FSIS is also home to the US Codex OfficeBhttp://www.fsis.usda.gov/OA/codex/\ .

The Codex Office represents the US in adoptingstandards for the Codex Alimentarius, a 13-vol-ume collection of international food standards.Two of the volumes deal with residues of pesti-cides and veterinary drugs in foods. A CD-ROMversion is available through Bernan Press9.

Three other important resources provided byUSDA include the National Agricultural LibraryBhttp://www.nalusda.gov\ the AGRICOLAdatabase Bhttp://www.nalusda.gov/ag98\ , andthe Agriculture Network Information Center (Ag-NIC) Bhttp://www.agnic.org\ . NAL is one ofthe four national libraries of the US and containsa multitude of resources related to agriculture.Readers interested in pesticides and other agricul-tural chemicals should be sure to investigate itsresources more fully. AGRICOLA contains cita-tions for both books and journal articles on agri-culture-related topics. AgNIC was established by

an alliance of the NAL, land-grant universities,and other organizations committed to facilitatingpublic access to agricultural and related informa-tion. An example of a resource available throughAgNIC is the Data Base of the Occurrence andDistribution of Pesticides in Chesapeake Bay (CBPest).

4.5. Department of Energy (DOE)Bhttp://www.doe.go6\

DOE is required to consider the health impactsof new energy technologies it develops. In addi-tion, DOE national laboratories and facilitiesmust manage hazardous waste they generate.While DOE does not generally conduct toxicologytesting in the usual sense, it has focused on basicbiological research, as well as on the mechanisticcauses of adverse health effects. DOE’s nationallaboratories also conduct more focused researchfor other government agencies.

The DOE Office of Environmental Policy andAssistance (OEPA) Dose and Risk ResourcesWeb Page Bhttp://tis-nt.eh.doe.gov/oepa/risk/\provides links to OEPA Policy and GuidanceDocuments, the OEPA Dose and Risk Assess-ment Open Forum, Tools and Models (includingonline and downloadable dose and risk assess-ment tools, primarily for use in ecological riskassessment), and Dose and Risk AssessmentDatabases. Those databases contain informationon dose coefficients, screening benchmarks, andhuman health effects that may result from expo-sure to various environmental contaminants.

Among the tools the OEPA site links to is theRisk Assessment Information System (RAIS) Bhttp://risk.lsd.ornl.gov/rap–hp.shtml\ , whichcontains risk assessment tools and information.RAIS is one of several resources accessiblethrough DOE’s Risk Information Web Server Bhttp://risk.lsd.ornl.gov\ . This Web Server is partof the Toxicology and Risk Analysis Section, inthe Life Sciences Division, at the Oak RidgeNational Laboratory (ORNL). Among the toolsincluded in RAIS are Risk-Based Preliminary Re-mediation Goal (PRG) calculations, a toxicitydata base, risk calculations, and ecological bench-marks. The tools were designed for use at all

9 Codex Alimentarius CD-ROM, 1999. Bhttp://www.bernan.com/Title.asp?TitleID=256\ February 2000.CD-ROM (Windows 3.0 or higher). Order: F45231 ISBN:92-5-004253-1 $500.00.


DOE sites and can be customized for site-specificconditions.

The Human Health Risk Exposure Model cal-culates doses and risks from exposure concentra-tions. Users of this tool can calculate the dosesand risks by either supplying a data set of concen-trations or selecting chemicals and hand-enteringexposure concentrations.

Ecological Risk Analysis: Tools and Applica-tions Bhttp://hsrd.ornl.gov/ecorisk/\ containsinformation that can be used to conduct ecologi-cal screening and baseline risk assessments. Addi-tional details on the scope and contents of this sitecan be accessed in the background file. Amongthe resources available are A Guide to the ORNLEcotoxicological Screening Benchmarks: Back-ground, De6elopment, and Application10, ScreeningBenchmark Reports, and a variety of guidancedocuments. The last include guidance on bioaccu-mulation models, exposure models, and perform-ing ecological risk assessments. The EcologicalRisk Analysis page also provides links to relatedgovernment and non-government sites.

Background Comparison Sources Bhttp://risk.lsd.ornl.gov/homepage/back–com.shtml\provides links to a table containing generic back-ground concentrations of inorganics that may beapplied to any area of the US. These data may becompared with local background data to establisha baseline for the local background concentra-tions or they may be used to provide appropriatebackground concentrations when site-specific val-ues are lacking.

Another resource accessible from the Risk In-formation Web server is the DOE Center for RiskExcellence’s (CRE) Tools. CRE’s web site con-tains pointers to tools used for risk prioritization,dose assessment, ecological assessment, wastemanagement, and transportation. Other usefulsources of risk information can be accessed fromthe CRE’s Technical Information page Bhttp://riskcenter.doe.gov/techinfo/\ .

Other resources available from the Oak RidgeNational Laboratory (ORNL) include contami-nant chemistry models Bhttp://www.ornl.gov/LANGMUIR/bpsintro.htm\ and otherprograms sponsored by ORNL’s EnvironmentalSciences Division Bhttp://www.esd.ornl.gov\ .

Of course, ORNL is not the only DOE labora-tory that provides toxicological and risk informa-tion. A full listing is beyond the scope of thisarticle, but examples of other resources includethe following. The Comprehensive EpidemiologicData Resource Bhttp://cedr.lbl.gov\ atLawrence Berkeley National Laboratory providesaccess to health and exposure data concerningDOE installations and studies of populations re-siding near DOE installations. Another databasecontaining human data, the Human Subjects Re-search Database Bhttp://www.eml.doe.gov/hsrd/\ is available through DOE’s EnvironmentalMeasurements Laboratory. This database con-tains information on research projects involvinghuman subjects that were either funded by DOE,conducted by DOE facilities, or performed byDOE personnel. Kinetic Biological Effects Model-ing Software Bhttp://www.pnl.gov/berc/kbem/\ is provided by the Pacific Northwest NationalLaboratory (PNL). This software can be used toconstruct applications to simulate the dose–re-sponse behavior of a group of cells representingan organ, tissue, or tumor exposed to one or morephysical or chemical agents, in particular thosecausing genotoxic damage. Another system jointlydeveloped by PNL and Battelle is the Exposure-to-Risk Monitor (E2R Monitor) Bhttp://www.pnl.gov/eshs/cap/cd/sensor.html\ . Thissystem consists of chemical sensors, new breath-analysis instrumentation, physiologically basedpharmacokinetic (PBPK) models, and currentmethods in risk assessment. When combined, thissystem can quantify the chemical exposure of anindividual worker, estimate the target tissue dosefrom that exposure, and provide a scientificallybased evaluation of the potential adverse healthrisk due to the exposure/dose. A full list of DOElaboratories and facilities can be found on theDOE Web site Bhttp://www.doe.gov/people/peopnl.htm\

10 Sample, Bradley E., Glenn W. Suter II, Rebecca A.Efroymson, and Daniel S. Jones, May 1998, Revision 1.0. OakRidge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN., ORNL/TM-13615.


DOE’s Office of Scientific and Technical Infor-mation (OSTI) maintains The Virtual Library ofEnergy Science and Technology Bhttp://www.osti.gov\ . The Virtual Library provideslinks to PubScience Bhttp://www.osti.gov/pub-science\ , a collection of citations to the peer-re-viewed scientific literature; the DOE InformationBridge Bhttp://www.osti.gov/bridge\ , whichcontains citations to the grey literature, includingthe text of many technical reports produced byDOE National Laboratories and grantees; andthe PrePrint Network Bhttp://www.osti.gov/preprint\ , which provides links to over 1000preprint servers in a wide range of scientificdisciplines.

The Toxicology Information Response Center(TIRC) Bhttp://www.ornl.gov/TechResources/tirc/hmepg.html\ provides customer search ser-vices to both scientific and public communities ona cost-recovery basis. TIRC was originally orga-nized under the sponsorship of the NLM, but isnow staffed by the Toxicology and Risk Assess-ment section (TARA), the data analysis and com-putation research section of the Life SciencesDivision of the ORNL. The Chemical DictionaryFile (CDF) Bhttp://www.ornl.gov/TechRe-sources/cdf/hmepg.html\ contains locators forinformation about chemicals found in the ORNL.While CDF contains several toxicological data-bases, many of them are also available directlyfrom NLM.

4.6. Department of Transportation (DOT)Bhttp://www.dot.go6\

DOT’s Hazmat Safety Web site Bhttp://haz-mat.dot.gov/\ includes a wide variety of docu-ments critical to anyone transporting toxic orhazardous materials. One of the resources is theEmergency Response Guidebook (ERG2000) Bhttp://hazmat.dot.gov/gydebook.htm\ , whichwas developed jointly by the DOT and its corre-sponding agencies in Canada and Mexico. It isprimarily a guide to aid first responders to haz-ardous materials transportation incidents byquickly identifying the specific or generic classifi-cation of materials involved in incidents, and pro-tecting themselves and the general public during

the initial response phase. The full version of theERG2000 can be searched via a web interface orcan be downloaded. Other resources availablethrough the Hazmat web site include HazardousMaterials Incident Reports Bhttp://haz-mat.dot.gov/files/hazmat/hmisframe.htm\ ; riskmanagement information; rules, regulations, andenforcement information; instructions on what todo in the event of a spill; and international haz-mat standards.

4.7. Department of Commerce (DOC)Bhttp://www.doc.go6\ orBhttp://www.commerce.go6\

4.7.1. National Oceanic and AtmosphericAdministration (NOAA)Bhttp://www.noaa.go6\

NOAA oversees the National Ocean Service’sOffice of Response and Restoration (OR&R) Bhttp://response.restoration.noaa.gov/\ . This sitecontains links to pages on toxic chemicals incoastal environments, aids for chemical accidentand oil spill responders, and damage assessmentand restoration.

The Toxic Chemicals in Coastal Environmentspage provides links to resources used to assess theeffects of contaminants on the environment, de-velop protective cleanup plans, and coordinateprojects to restore affected rivers, estuaries, andother coastal ecosystems. These include such re-sources as tools for examining the ecological ef-fects of toxic contaminants in sediment andinformation about contaminants in specific areasof the US.

Aids for Chemical Accident Responders in-cludes links for first responders to chemical acci-dents, including tools and resources for users ofCAMEO and ALOHA. CAMEO, or Computer-Aided Management of Emergency Operations, isan integrated set of software modules jointly de-veloped by NOAA and EPA. It is designed tohelp first responders and emergency planners planfor and respond to chemical accidents by provid-ing accurate information about the substancesspilled and the safe actions to be taken to protectresponders and the public. CAMEO’s chemicaldatabase contains response recommendations for


about 4000 chemicals. It also contains 60 000chemical synonyms and identification numbers,which can quickly be searched so that unknownsubstances can be identified during an incident.The module also provides information on physicalproperties and health hazards, first aid guidance,and spill response recommendations. CAMEOcan be ordered through EPA’s CAMEO Web siteBhttp://www.epa.gov/ceppo/cameo/\ .

ALOHA (Areal Locations of Hazardous Atmo-spheres) is a computer program that uses informa-tion provided by its operator and physicalproperty data from its extensive chemical libraryto predict how a hazardous gas cloud might dis-perse in the atmosphere after an accidental chem-ical release. ALOHA can also be requested via theCAMEO Web site.

MARPLOT, a map display application, allowsquick and flexible manipulation of US Bureau ofthe Census TIGER/Line digital map files. It candisplay an ALOHA footprint on an electronicmap of the local area. Users can add informationto MARPLOT maps, such as the locations offacilities storing hazardous materials and popula-tions of special concern (these could be hospitals,daycare centers, and schools). More informationabout these locations (such as addresses andphone numbers for emergency contacts) can bekept in other CAMEO databases.

The Chemical Reactivity Worksheet is a freeprogram one can use to find out about the reac-tivity of substances or mixtures of substances. Itincludes a database of reactivity information formore than 4000 common hazardous chemicals.The database also includes information about thespecial hazards of each chemical and aboutwhether a chemical reacts with air, water, or othermaterials, a virtual model for mixing chemicals tofind out what dangers could arise from accidentalmixing. It is available in both Windows andMacintosh.

Oil and Hazardous Materials Response Reportsdescribe oil and chemical spill responses in whichNOAA OR&R participated. They contain inci-dent summaries, descriptions of the behavior ofspilled material, discussions of countermeasuresand mitigation measures applied, and descriptionsof special issues.

Aids for Oil Spill Responders include publica-tions such as case histories, training tools, briefingpapers, and reports on spill response issues; soft-ware (including programs for spill dispersionmodeling and incident reporting); and the Envi-ronmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) Project,NOAA’s environmental sensitivity mappingprogram.

4.7.2. US Patent and Trademark Office(USPTO) Bhttp://www.uspto.go6\

The USPTO’s Bhttp://www.uspto.gov\Databases and Search Resources page allows oneto search several patent- and trademark-relateddatabases. Readers may be able to find patentsrelated to sampling, monitoring, toxicity testing,remediation, pollution prevention, and other re-lated topics.

4.8. Department of Defense (DOD)Bhttp://www.defenselink.mil/pubs/almanac/osd.html\

Many of DOD’s resources have been central-ized in the Defense Environmental Network andInformation Exchange (DENIX) Bhttp://www.denix.osd.mil\ . DENIX offers differentmenus for different audiences (DOD, the public,states, and the international community). Thepublic menu allows access to many documents onDOD environmental policy, information, andnews.

Other DOD Web sites that might be of interestto toxicologists, especially those working for theUS military or other government agencies, are theHazardous Material Information System (HMIS)Bhttp://www.dlis.dla.mil/hmis/\ , which pro-vides access to Material Safety Data Sheets (MS-DSs) and value-added data such as hazardcommunication warning labels, and the DefenseTechnical Information Center (DTIC) Bhttp://www.dtic.mil\ . While DTIC covers many areasother than toxicology and the environment, manyof its resources could be useful to researchers whoare trying to explore all facets of a subject. Thoseresources include the Defense Technical Informa-tion Web Bhttp://www.dtic.mil:80/dtiw\ , whichin turn provides access to DTIC’s Scientific and


Technical Network (STINET) Bhttp://stinet.dtic.mil\ and other resources. Users mustregister for both HMIS and DTIC, though someresources like the public version of STINET donot require registration.

The DTIW Locator does provide a list of DODEnvironmental Sources on the Internet, whichlists units responsible for various environmentalresponsibilities within DOD and the separate ser-vices. DTIC also provides a Lab Database/Re-source Toolkit page, which contains links toresources such as the National Technology Trans-fer Center’s Directory of Federal Laboratory andTechnology Resources, military specifications andstandards, and environmental analysis Web sites.Among the sites listed under ‘EnvironmentalAnalysis’ is one that some readers may haveaccessed in the past, the Tri-Service ToxicologyConsortium Web site. This consortium had beencreated by combining three previously separatemilitary toxicology efforts under Project Reliance:the Naval Medical Research Institute ToxicologyDetachment, the Toxicology Division of the AirForce Armstrong Laboratory, and the Occupa-tional Health Branch of the US Army BiomedicalResearch and Development. Unfortunately, thelink on the Lab Database/Resource Toolkit pageprovides no response. Further, when one accessesthe page using an alternate URL Bhttp://www.navy.al.wpafb.af.mil\ , one finds only theNaval Health Research Center’s (NHRC) Toxi-cology Detachment page. This page does provideaccess to NHRC toxicology research abstracts. Italso contains the interesting comment that‘NHRC/TD is well on its way to becoming theTri-Service Toxicology Center of Excellence inNeurobehavioral and Inhalation Toxicology Re-search’. No information was available at the timethis article was written as to what the fate of theTri-Service Toxicology Consortium was.

GulfLINK Bhttp://www.gulflink.osd.mil\contains information from DOD’s Office of theSpecial Assistant for Gulf War Illnesses. It con-tains case narratives, information papers, and en-vironmental exposure reports related to exposureto chemicals during the Persian Gulf War.

DOD, in conjunction with several other federalagencies, maintains a number of sites containing

information on how to prepare for and respondto warfare or terrorist attacks involving nuclear,biological, or chemical (NBC) agents. These in-clude the Medical NBC Information Server Bhttp://www.nbc-med.org\ , the Medical Researchand Materiel Command Bhttp://mrmc-www.army.mil\ , Medical Chemical and BiologicalDefense – Chemical Bhttp://mrmc-www.army.mil/researchAreas/chemical/\ , and the US ArmyMedical Research Institute of Chemical Defense(USAMRICD) Bhttp://chemdef.apgea.army.mil\ . Among the resources included on thesesites are Medical Aspects of Chemical and Biologi-cal Warfare (Sidell et al., 1997), Medical Manage-ment of Chemical Casualties Handbook,(USAMRICD, 1999), which is produced byUSAMRICD’s Chemical Casualty Care DivisionBhttp://ccc.apgea.army.mil/\ . This handbook(also known as the ‘Chemical Handbook’) dis-cusses many of the agents used in chemical war-fare. It also describes proper procedures fordecontamination and casualty management, aswell as chemical defense equipment. Other re-sources for information on response to chemicalattacks include the US Army Soldier and Biologi-cal Chemical Command (SBCCOM) Home PageBhttp://www.sbccom.army.mil/\ , especiallySBCCOM’s Program Director for Domestic Pre-paredness page Bhttp://dp.sbccom.army.mil/\ ;Chemical Weapons Improved Response Program(CW IRP) reports Bhttp://dp.sbccom.army.mil/cwirp/\ ; and the US Army Chemical SchoolBhttp://www.wood.army.mil/usacmls/\ . TheArmy Research Laboratory prepared the NBCToolbox for the Army Chemical School. Thetoolbox is distributed on a CD-ROM for use on astand-alone system and is only available to gov-ernment responders on a case-by-case basis Bhttp://web.arl.mil/Overview/nbc-toolbox.html\and is also available via the Web to authorizedusers. This toolbox provides the user with theability to search for information relevant to haz-ards associated with NBC warfare agents.

The US Army Center for Health Promotion& Preventive Medicine (USACHPPM)Directorate of Toxicology Bhttp://chppm-www.apgea.army.mil/tox/\ provides chemical


fact sheets for a variety of chemical agents (toxi-cology documentation, however, is available onlyto USACHPPM staff). The Toxicity Clearancespage provides ‘A Listing of Conditionally Ap-proved Products Considered for Toxicity Clear-ance by USACHPPM’, which containsinformation about alternative solvents, refriger-ants, and fire extinguishing agents.

The individual armed services also maintainpages dealing with threats from chemical attacks.For example, the US Air Force (USAF) main-tains the USAF Counterproliferation CenterChemical Page Bhttp://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/cps-chem.htm\ .

4.8.1. US Army Corps of EngineersBhttp://www.usace.army.mil/\

The Environmental Residue-Effects Database(ERED) Bhttp://www.wes.army.mil/el/ered/\contains information on a broad range of biologi-cal effects caused by the presence of a particularcontaminant in the tissue of an organism. It wasdeveloped in cooperation with the US Environ-mental Protection Agency to reduce the level ofuncertainty associated with interpreting bioaccu-mulation data for the purpose of making regula-tory decisions regarding the disposal of dredgedmaterial having a potential ‘unacceptable adverseeffect’.

4.9. Department of the Interior (DOI)Bhttp://www.doi.go6\

4.9.1. US Geological Sur6ey (USGS)Bhttp://www.usgs.go6\

The USGS Toxic Substances Hydrology Pro-gram B http://toxics.usgs.gov/ \ resources in-clude descriptions of investigations of subsurfacepoint-source contamination and watershed- andregional-scale contamination in the environment,a searchable bibliography of over 2300 ToxicsProgram publications, and fact sheets and meet-ing proceedings.

The USGS Acute Toxicity Database Bhttp://www.cerc.usgs.gov/data/acute/acute.html\ sum-marizes the results from 4901 aquatic acutetoxicity tests conducted by the Columbia Environ-mental Research Center (CERC) between 1965

and 1986. These tests were conducted with 410chemicals and 66 species of aquatic animals. Howvarious factors affect toxicity are analyzed in areport on the original tests (Mayer and Ellersieck,1986).

The USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research CenterBhttp://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/\ provides accessto a number of resources through its BiologicalResources page. These include the ContaminantHazard Reviews Bhttp://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/new/chrback.htm\ and Contaminant Exposureand Effects — Terrestrial Vertebrates (CEE-TV)Database. Each Contaminant Hazard Reviewsynthesizes the technical literature on a singlecontaminant and its effects on terrestrial plantsand invertebrates, aquatic plants and animals,avian and mammalian wildlife, and other naturalresources.

The Sediment–Contaminant Database for theUpper Mississippi River System (version 1) (ac-cessible from Bhttp://www.umesc.usgs.gov/data–library/sed–cont–nutrients.html\ ) con-tains 30 data sets on sediment-associated contami-nants such as PAHs, herbicides, and metals foundin samples collected from the Upper MississippiRiver, the Illinois River, and selected tributariesfrom 1974 through 1995.

4.9.2. US Fish and Wildlife Ser6ice (FWS)Bhttp://www.fws.go6\

An example of information provided throughthe FWS is its Division of Environmental Con-taminants page Bhttp://contaminants.fws.gov/\. FWS monitors information on such topics aspesticides, endocrine disruptors, water quality,Superfund sites, oil spills, as well as indicators ofpotential problems such as amphibian declines.

4.9.3. National Park Ser6iceBhttp://www.nps.go6\

The Environmental Contaminants Encyclope-dia (Irwin et al., 1998) Bhttp://www1.nature.nps.gov/toxic\ focuses on environmentaltoxicological information related to fish, wildlife,invertebrates, and other non-human living re-sources. It contains 118 entries on different chem-ical substances and topics including the oilproducts most commonly spilled into fresh


and marine waters of the US; other oil-relatedtopics such as compounds found in oil products,total petroleum hydrocarbons, and polycyclic aro-matic hydrocarbons (PAHs); and high-prioritymetals and volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

5. Independent Executive Branch Agencies

5.1. En6ironmental Protection Agency (EPA)

EPA has a large collection of toxicological dataand information. (See the article by Poore in thisissue. Poore, 2001)

5.2. Chemical Safety and Hazard In6estigationBoard (CSB)

The CSB was created to investigate chemicalaccidents and releases. Its Web site Bhttp://www.chemsafety.gov\ includes news itemsabout recent developments in industrial chemicalsafety, incident reviews, the status of CSB investi-gations, a Chemical Incident Reporting Center(CIRC) that lists incidents, and a Chemlinks pagethat lists a wide variety of both government andnon-government Web sites dealing with chemicalsafety. CSB also offers an electronic mailing list toupdate the public on investigations and othernews Bhttp://www.chemsafety.gov/newslist\ .

5.3. Federal Emergency ManagementAdministration (FEMA)Bhttp://www.fema.go6\

The Rapid Response Information System(RRIS) Bhttp://www.rris.fema.gov/\ is com-prised of several databases, consisting of chemicaland biological agents’ and radiological materials’characteristics, first aid measures, Federal re-sponse capabilities, a Helpline, hotlines, and otherFederal information sources concerning potentialweapons of mass destruction. It can be used as areference guide, training aid, and an overall plan-ning and training resource for response to a chem-ical, biological and/or nuclear terrorist incident.Links to other resources on chemical incidentsand responses to them are included in the RRIS

Reference Library Bhttp://www.rris.fema.gov/reflib.htm\ .

The US Fire Administration (USFA) of FEMAhas prepared a Hazardous Materials Guide forFirst Responders Bhttp://www.usfa.fema.gov/hazmat/\ containing chemical-specific informa-tion, including specific recommendations for 430materials commonly encountered in incidents anda Materials Summary Response Table, which con-tains summary information for 1422 less com-monly encountered materials.

5.4. Consumer Product Safety Commission(CPSC) Bhttp://www.cpsc.go6\

The CPSC Bhttp://www.cpsc.gov\ appearsto make little actual data available regarding toxicand hazardous substances on its Web site, exceptwhen related to reports of accidents or deaths.Even then it appears that the best way to obtaininformation from the Commission is through theFreedom of Information Act (FOIA) Bhttp://www.cpsc.gov/library/library.html\ .

CPSC does make available on its web site docu-ments for consumers on such topics as poisonprevention, arts and crafts safety, householdproducts safety, indoor air quality, and the con-sumer product safety review process. One docu-ment which might be useful for those involved inthe manufacture of consumer products is the Reg-ulated Products Handbook Bhttp://www.cpsc.gov/businfo/8001.html\ , a guide for manufac-turers, importers, distributors, and retailers onprocedures relating to the enforcement of stan-dards and regulations issued under laws the CPSCadministers.

5.5. National Science Foundation (NSF)

It is not possible to do justice to the researchefforts of the NSF in an article of this nature, butreaders might find the following of special inter-est: the National Science Board Task Force on theEnvironment Bhttp://www.nsf.gov/nsb/tfe/\ ;NSF/EPA Partnership for Environmental re-search Bhttp://www.nsf.gov/home/crssprgm/epa/start.htm\ ; and Biocomplexity in theEnvironment Bhttp://www.nsf.gov/home/crssprgm/be/\ .


6. Legislative agencies and units

The legislative branch can also be used as asource for information related to toxicology, butthe information tends to be less research-oriented.The most obvious source is the Library of Con-gress Bhttp://www.loc.gov\ . Its catalog willprovide information on toxicological texts of amore general sort than NLM, but may be a goodplace to check if a desired text cannot be foundelsewhere. Another source of basic resources onchemicals is the Library’s Science Tracer Bulletsseries Bhttp://lcweb2.loc.gov/sctb/\ . Thoughsomewhat dated now, some of the Tracer Bulletsdeal with poisons, toxicology, and the chemicalindustry. For those readers interested in legisla-tion involving hazardous and toxic substances,LC’s THOMAS Web page Bhttp://thomas.loc.gov/\ can be used to search for billsand laws affecting toxicological research or chem-icals management.

A number of Congressional Research Servicepublications have been made available on theNCSE Web site. A number of the issue papersdeal with various issues surrounding risk assess-ment. They can be viewed on the NCSE Regula-tory Reform and Risk Assessment pageBhttp://www.cnie.org/nle/crsrsk.html\ .

The General Accounting Office (GAO) Bhttp://www.gao.gov/\ is the investigative arm of Con-gress. GAO conducts investigations, programreviews, and audits at the request of Congress.While toxicological data is usually not included,reports can sometimes provide an idea of howwell federal agencies are conducting their pro-grams or whether their information needs are met.For example, among the reports GAO recentlyreleased was one entitled Toxic Chemicals: Long-Term Coordinated Strategy Needed to MeasureExposures in Humans11.

Reports can be browsed by subject area on theGAO Web site or can be searched via the ‘Gen-eral Accounting Office (GAO) Reports Online viaGPO Access ‘ Web site.

7. Federally-chartered organizations

The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) Bhttp://www4.nationalacademies.org/nas/nashome.nsf\ and the Institute of Medicine(IOM) Bhttp://www.iom.edu\ are two compo-nents of the National Academies Bhttp://www.nationalacademies.org\ . The NAS Boardon Environmental Studies and Toxicology(BEST) Bhttp://nationalacademies.org/cls/best/\ is the National Academies’ principal study unitfor environmental pollution problems affectinghuman health, human impacts on the environ-ment, and the assessment and management ofrelated risks to human health and the environ-ment. BEST’s Selected Reports page Bhttp://na-tionalacademies.org/cls/best/reports.html\includes links to such reports as Scientific Fron-tiers in De6elopmental Toxicology and Risk As-sessment and Toxicological Risks of SelectedFlame-Retardant Chemicals.

IOM’s Division of Health Promotion and Dis-ease Prevention (HPDP) focuses on issues affect-ing the health of the public, includingenvironmental health issues such as indoor airquality and the health of Gulf War and Vietnamveterans. IOM also administers the Roundtableon Environmental Health Sciences, Research, andMedicine, which is sponsored by NIEHS. It pro-vides a forum for parties interested in environ-mental health from the academic, industrial, andfederal research communities to meet and discusssensitive issues. In addition, many toxicologicalreviews and studies conducted by the NationalResearch Council, the operational arm of theNational Academies, are funded by governmentagencies. The full text of many of these studiescan be accessed through the National AcademyPress Web site Bhttp://www.nap.edu\ .

8. General sources

The National Technical Information Service(NTIS) is the document repository for many fed-eral agencies. The Department of Commerce hasrecommended eliminating NTIS and transferringits functions elsewhere. Its status was still up in

11 General Accounting Office. Toxic Chemicals: Long-TermCoordinated Strategy Needed to Measure Exposures in Hu-mans. HEHS-00-80. May 2, 2000. (Available as a PDF fileBhttp://www.gao.gov/new.items/he00080.pdf\ ).


the air at the time this article was written, thoughrecommendations have been made to move it toeither the Government Printing Office or the Li-brary of Congress. NTIS resources can besearched at either http://www.ntis.gov or http://www.fedworld.gov. The Government PrintingOffice (GPO) publishes the Federal Register, theCode of Federal Regulations, and other officialpublications.

The Federal Register is accessible through GPOAccess Bhttp://www.access.gpo.gov/\ . It con-tains proposed and final rules promulgated byfederal agencies. These rules can includeproposed testing requirements and protocols andnew regulatory restrictions. Agencies may alsopublish notices of meetings, workshops, and re-quests for research proposals in the Federal Reg-ister.

The Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Bhttp://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/\ is thecompilation of all the finalized rules agencies havepublished in the Federal Register. Not only is theentire text of the CFR searchable, but one canselect a particular title or even subpart of theCFR on which to search. Also, as noted in thearticle some agencies have posted the relevantCFR sections on their Web sites. CFR titles thatmight be of special interest to readers are 10 CFR,Energy; 21 CFR, Food and Drugs; 29 CFR,Labor; 40 CFR, Protection of Environment; 42CFR, Public Health; and 49 CFR, Transporta-tion. Unfortunately, the CFR is not designed toallow for searching of specific CAS RegistryNumbers or chemical names.

9. Conclusion

As can be seen from the descriptions above,there is a tremendously wide range in the types ofresources that federal government agencies havemade available on the Internet and in other digitalformats. It is clear that the Internet and otherdigital formats will not only continue to be asource of information for scientists and the pub-lic, but that this use will grow as agencies becomemore comfortable with placing data and informa-tion online. It is likely that increased expectations

on the part of the public will only increase thistendency.

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