The database, initially developed by the Center for Environmental Science, Technology and Policy, will be housed at Cleveland State's Safety and Environmental Services. The University itself will not receive, handle or be involved in the transportation of any materials. The shipping of materials will be handled by the receiving companies using a DOT-certified commercial carrier. Organizations interested in obtaining chemicals from donor institutions may submit their order through the web page, then they will be contacted by the chemical donor. The web page will be monitored by the University's Safety and Environmental Services.
Safeguards are in place to protect the anonymity of the donating and receiving companies.
The program will be tested this summer and only those companies which are members of CARD will participate in the chemical exchange. Once established that the program works properly, membership in the exchange program will be open to other companies and institutions in the Cleveland area. The Orphan Chemical Exchange Program will soon be introduced at a meeting of the Greater Cleveland Growth Association. According to Dr. Messineo of the Cleveland State Biology department, there is already great interest for the program from members of CARD and many educational institutions.