Toxicology and Environmental Health Information Resources The Role of the National Library of Medicine (1997) / Chapter Skim
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2 The National Library of Medicine's Toxicology and Environmental Health Information Program
2 The National Library of Medicine's Toxicology and Environmental Health Information Program
Pages 19-54
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To inform readers unfamiliar with the breadth and depth of the TEHIP program's information resources, the main focus of this chapter is a description of the TEHIP program and of each of the TEHIP databases. The chapters that follow provide an assessment of the TEHIP program and address the toxicology and environmental health information needs of health professionals.
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The library also provides access to more than 40 online databases through its Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System (MEDLARS)
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NLM's original retrieval system, ELHILL, was designed for bibliographic databases. As a result, in the early 1980s when the records of the TEHIP factual databases became too large for the ELHILL system, it was determined that a new system was needed.
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Microprocessor developed; enabled the development of the personal computer 1964 1970s 1971 ARPAnet, the precursor to the 1972 1972 Internet, becomes operational MEDLINE introduced online MEDLINE tapes leased to mid commercial vendors 1970s 23 Environmental Health and the TEHIP Program 1961 1961 Society of Toxicology founded 1962 1966 Publication of Rachel Carson's book Silent Spring IARC established by the World Health Organization Publication of the President's Science Advisory Committee's report Handling of Toxicological Information 1967 NLM's TIP established 1970 Occupational Safety and Health Act established NIOSH and OSHA Clean Air Act enacted TOXL1[NE developed by NLM Clean Water Act enacted continues
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enacted; ATSDR established 1983 Desktop computers 1985 Grateful Med developed by 1986 1986 NLM 1987 Toxicology Data Bank developed by NLM National Toxicology Program established OSHA's Hazard Communication Standard, which covered employees in the manufacturing sector of industry, is enacted TOXNET developed Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA) enacted OSHA's Hazard Communication Standard expanded to include employees in all industries 1988 IOM report Role of the Primary Care Physician in Occupational and Environmental Medicine published 1989 Toxic Chemical Release Inventory (TRI)
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. Environmental Health and the TEHIP Program 1993 NLM Long Rang Planning Panel report Improving Toxicology and Environmental Health Information Services is published 1995 IOM reports Environmental Medicine and Nursing, Health, and the Environment published 1996 National Occupational Research Agenda established by NIOSH NOTE: ATSDR=Agency for Toxic Substan~ yes and Disease Registry; EPA=Environmental Protection Agency; IARC=International Agency for Research on Cancer; NIOSH=National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health; NLM=National Library of Medicine; NSCA -- National Center for Supercomputing Applications; OSHA=Occupational Safety and Health Administration; TIP=Toxicology Information Program.
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TOXICOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH INFORMATION PROGRAM Mission and History The 1966 President's Science Advisory Committee report Handling of Toxicological Information provided the impetus for the development of the Toxicology Information Program (TIP)
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This legislation led to collaborative efforts between NLM and ATSDR in the expansion of what had been the Toxicology Data Bank to become the HSDB. Thus, the evolution of NLM's TEHIP program has been the result of both internal NLM commitments to developing toxicology and environmental health information resources and the interests of other federal agencies in fulfilling their missions and legislative mandates.
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~ Reimbursable budget (constant $~ FIGURE 2.2 TEHIP program budget (constant dollars)
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One of the features of the TEHIP databases unfamiliar to many users is the inclusion of both bibliographic and factual databases.5 Bibliographic databases are fairly standard in fonnat and are organized to have one record per article citation (Figure 2.3~. Each record includes the reference information needed to identify a journal article or other document (e.g., author, title, source, volume, and page numbers)
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The following sections provide brief descriptions of the TEHIP databasestheir subject content, organization, and review and update procedures. Further detailed information on each database, including descriptions of each of the searchable fields, is available in the NLM publication Reference Materials for the Toxicology Information Program Online Services (NLM, 1994~.
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ChemID specifies the particular spelling of the chemical name or the synonym used by each list and includes information on each list including a list description, contact information for the list producer, and references. CHEMLINE has records on more than 1.4 million chemical substances and was the first of the two chemical dictionary databases to be included in the NLM online system.
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a front-end software package developed by NLM. Direct searching requires the user to have knowledge of specific field names and the complex command language, whereas menu and Grateful Med searching provide useful entry points for infrequent users of the database.
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. The substance identification section includes the CAS Registry Number, molecular formula, and synonyms.
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database, the Chemical Carcinogenesis Research Information System (CCRIS) , provides test results from scientifically-evaluated carcinogenicity, mutagenicity, tumor production, and tumor inhibition studies.
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, the test results, and the bibliographic reference. The CCRIS database brings together the major scientific studies on each chemical and gives extensive information on the study and the study results.
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Organization and Content Each IRIS database record has information on one chemical, which is then organized into eight major categories of data. The chemical identification fields allow the database to be searched by chemical name, CAS Registry Number, chemical synonyms, or molecular formula.
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Additionally, IRIS contains the advisories from the EPA Office of Drinking Water and exposure standards and regulations including the requirements of the Clean Air, Clean Water, and Safe Drinking Water Acts. Review and Updates IRIS is updated monthly by EPA.
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Publication of print and microfiche versions of RTECS has recently ceased. Organization and Content RTECS is organized by chemical record, and each record contains four major categories of information: substance identification (including the CAS Registry Number)
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The major categories of data in the TRI records are facility identification (including facility name and address) , substance identification (including the CAS Registry Number and manufacturing and processing uses)
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Within each record the major categories of data are substance identification (including CAS Registry Number) , chemical and physical properties, and safety and handling (including recommendations on personal protective equipment and clothing; the DoT Emergency Guidelines for firefighters, police, or emergency workers; and the National Fire Protection Association's Hazard Classification of flammability)
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Descriptions and contact information for more than 17,000 biomedical and health-related organizations, databases, software programs, and other information resources are available through DIRLINE. This database was developed by SIS staff to provide an alternate source for answering information requests and was designed to be used by health professionals, information specialists, and the general public (NLM, 1994~.
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Each DIRLINE record provides information on one information resource (Box 2.4~. DIRLINE records include contact information (including address and telephone number)
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TEHIP BIBLIOGRAPHIC DATABASES Many health professionals are familiar with NLM's bibliographic databases, particularly MEDLINE. Six of the TEHIP databases are bibliographic and provide references to the vast range of toxicology and environmental health literature.
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NIOSHTIC Pesticides Abstractsb Poisonous Plants Bibliographyb Collection of bibliographic citations prepared by EMIC on numerical chromosomal abnormalities DART database on teratology and many aspects of reproductive toxicology EMIC database on substances tested for genotoxic activity ETICBACK database covering the 1950-1989 teratology literature Epidemiology Information System database, developed by FDA's Center for Food Safety; citations cover literature published from 1940 to 1988 on the distribution and health effects of food contaminants Subset of the FEDRIP database produced by NTIS and describing current federal research and development projects HMTC Abstract Bulletin on hazardous wastes, published by the Department of Army's Hazardous Materials Technical Center CIS Abstracts; toxicology-related material produced by the International Labour Office's International Occupational Safety and Health Information Centre Subset of the IPA database on development and use of drugs; produced by the American Society of Health System Pharmacists Subset of the NIOSH's NIOSHTIC database on occupational safety and health literature EPA publication on the epidemiological effects of pesticides; the publication was terminated in 1981 Pre-1976 citations to literature on poisonous plants continues
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All four files (TOXLINE, TOXLINE65, TOXLIT, and TOXLIT65) are organized as tradi-tional bibliographic databases with fields for basic bibliographic information including author, title, source, language, publication type, and abstract (when available)
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Organization and Content Both DART and ETICBACK are bibliographic databases and provide searchable fields for basic bibliographic information including author, source, language, publication type, and, when available, the abstract. Substance identification fields in both databases provide searchable access to the CAS Registry Number and other identication information.
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Organization and Content Similarly to TOXLINE, EMIC has been separated into two bibliographic database files. The EMICBACK file covers the pre-1950 through 1991 literature, and the EMIC file includes the literature published since 1991.
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CONCLUSIONS Although this chapter presents only an overview of each of the TEHIP databases, it is evident that there is a wealth of information available for use by health professionals, researchers, industry, policymakers, and the general public. What is also evident is the complexity of the TEHIP program a complexity that results Dom the number of databases, the disparate scope and content of the databases, the diverse sources of information, and the variations in the type of information provided.
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1994. Reference Materials for the Toxicology Information Program Online Services.
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