Toxic Chemical Information Sources
Authors: Cohrssen Barbara 
Published: August 2005

Knowing where to go to get relevant up‐to‐date as well as state‐of‐the‐art information about the health effects of a chemical is essential for effective protection of workers and the environment. The means to access information is changing every day and the amount of occupational health and safety information is expanding. Finding information to prepare a MSDS, to respond to an emergency, to meet legislative and regulatory requirements, to determine the cause of an illness, or to develop a health and safety program can be challenging, overwhelming, and time‐consuming. Toxicological information and data are of interest to more than workers, toxicologists, industrial hygienists, lawyers, and regulators. The general public is increasingly interested in the health effects of industrial chemicals.

Depending upon who wants the information and why they want it affects the use it will have and the amount of detail required about the chemical. For some, knowing that the basic health effects are respiratory or skin irritation is enough. For others, knowing the mechanics of the way the chemical works in the body will be of interest and required. For still others, the information is needed for an emergency so that whatever information is obtained must be gained quickly.

The recency of the information may affect which information sources are used. Electronic data bases, which have become a fact of life and are probably now the first source of reference for most people looking for chemical information and toxicological data, may not be the best resource. Electronic data bases can include both CD‐ROMs and on‐line databases available either directly from the service provider such as DIALOG, MEDLINE, or CCOHS or via the Internet. The government sources of information are usually free; however, there are fees for many of the other services. Comprehensive information and data are necessary to develop regulations to protect people and the environment from the effects of exposure from a chemical; all of this information may not be available from an electronic source. But electronic data sources are the places to go to quickly to find current toxicological data. There are a number of different methods of finding electronic data sources, and they are discussed later in the chapter.

There are a number of different types of safety, health, and toxicological information sources. These include traditional paper sources such as books, journals, and periodicals which were the typical sources of information before about 1970. There are also gray data. Gray data can include private or government research reports that have not been published, company catalogs, and material safety data sheets (MSDSs). These information sources are called gray data because they are difficult to find and are not always readily available. Still other sources of health and safety data are laws, standards, and patents in print. A preamble to a Federal OSHA health standard provides historical epidemiological data about a chemical.

This chapter discusses basic mechanics of information searching, general or traditional places to go for information, and then specific resources. To provide a chapter with just specific sources in this age of greatly expanding possible resources would be both a waste of time and a disservice to readers.