With origins dating back to 1967, the National Library of Medicine's (NLM's) Toxicology and Environmental Health Information Program (TEHIP) is poised to celebrate, in 2017, 50 years as a gateway to an increasingly vast global array of free resources and tools geared to toxicologists and the general public. From its primary online entry portal, one can navigate through TEHIP’s digital boulevards and backroads.
TOXNET is our major collection of databases on toxicology, hazardous chemicals, environmental health, and toxic releases, and is used extensively by toxicologists worldwide. A streamlined and easy-to-use interface allows searching of an individual database or several simultaneously. Among them is the Hazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB) that focuses on the toxicology of potentially hazardous chemicals. Notable for its rigorous peer review mechanism, rare for a database, it contains data on human health effects, emergency medical treatment, animal toxicity studies, metabolism/pharmacokinetics, environmental fate and exposure, and much more, and weighs in at over 5,000 chemicals.
TOXLINE is a database of scientific literature references, over 4 million to date, typically including abstracts and CAS Registry numbers, with an emphasis on the biochemical, pharmacological, physiological, and toxicological effects of chemicals, including drugs. TOXLINE’s references come from journals, government reports, meeting abstracts, and other sources, with a large part derived from NLM’s primary biomedical bibliographic file, MEDLINE/PubMed. ChemIDplus is an online dictionary of chemical names, identifying numbers, synonyms, structures, and links to other information within and outside NLM.
TOXNET also offers databases in a number of specialized subjects—LactMed (on drugs and breastfeeding), DART (on developmental and reproductive toxicology), CTD (on comparative toxicogenomics), Household Products Database, Haz-Map (on occupational exposure to chemicals), IRIS and ITER (two major risk assessment databases), and ALTBIB (on alternatives to animal testing). Files on chemical carcinogenesis and genetic toxicology also are available. In addition, via the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) from the US Environmental Protection Agency, one can access 27 years’ worth of data on releases of certain chemicals to the environment or stored on site, as mandated by the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act. It is complemented by TOXMAP, a geographic interface. Beyond the TOXNET suite, TEHIP’s repertory is rounded out by such files as: Dietary Supplements Database, Drug Information Portal, and LiverTox.
Whereas the above databases vary in requiring a greater or lesser technical background, some resources are specifically geared to the public and schoolchildren, as well as educators. ToxLearn, for example, created in collaboration with the Society of Toxicology, is a modular training package highlighting the fundamentals of toxicology and updating portions of NLM’s ToxTutor program. Students and educators, on the other hand, can benefit from the Environmental Health Student Portal, ToxMystery, and ToxTown (the latter two for younger and older students, respectively), animations, and games to help teach students about toxic chemicals and environmental health.
Over the years, TEHIP has created online reference guides consisting of links to reputable sources of environmental health information. Among these are guides devoted to arsenic, climate change, environmental justice, nanotechnology, pesticides, and toxicogenomics.
Closely aligned with NLM’s TEHIP is its Disaster Information Management Research Center (DIMRC), a focal point for health information resources in the service of disaster preparedness, response, and recovery. Emergency response tools are available, for example, for dealing with chemicals (CHEMM) and radiation (REMM), while WISER is a system designed to help emergency responders identify hazardous materials and respond to chemical emergencies.
If you use our databases already, you more than likely find them an essential component of your professional activities. If not, give them a try. We think you’ll be won over.
Questions? Contact Phil Wexler