Environmental Data: Health Effects & Chemical Information
Toxic Substances Manufacturing
What counts as a toxic substance? The resources below link to definitions as well as information about the chemicals-- their effect on health as well as the environment.
But, do you know which facilities in your area create or import toxic substances as defined by the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA)?
Health Effects & Chemical Information
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Toxic Substances Portal (US ATSDR)From the Agency for Toxic Substances & Distance Registry.
The portal points to a several collections of health-related resources. -
Substance Priority List (US ATSDR)What is the Substance Priority List (SPL)?
The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) section 104 (i), as amended by the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA), requires ATSDR and the EPA to prepare a list, in order of priority, of substances that are most commonly found at facilities on the National Priorities List (NPL) and which are determined to pose the most significant potential threat to human health due to their known or suspected toxicity and potential for human exposure at these NPL sites.
The next few items are all found on the Toxic Substances Portal but tend to be more appropriate for environmental health specialists or those with a more robust chemical knowledge set.
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Health Effects of Exposure to Substances and Carcinogens (US ATSDR)An organ system is a structure that is found inside a human or animal. It is made of cells or tissues that perform a specific function. When exposed to a hazardous substance, the organ that the substance affects at the lowest dose is called the target organ. Development is the process in which an individual or animal matures until puberty.
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Substances A-Z (US ATSDR)Access the best science, the latest research, and the most important information about toxic substances and how they affect our health including:
Characteristics;
Exposure risks;
Associated health effects; and
Related CDC and ATSDR health studies and assessments -
Toxicological ProfilesToxicological Profiles (Tox Profiles) are a unique compilation of toxicological information on a given hazardous substance. Each peer-reviewed Tox Profile reflects a comprehensive and extensive evaluation, summary, and interpretation of available toxicological and epidemiological information on a substance.
The following items can also be found on the Toxic Substances Portal but these have been developed for the lay person. They tend to not be as dense as the above items.
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Acute Chemical Exposure Medical Management Guidelines (US ATSDR)The Medical Management Guidelines (MMGs) for Acute Chemical Exposures were developed by ATSDR to aid emergency department physicians and other emergency healthcare professionals who manage acute exposures resulting from chemical incidents. The MMGs are intended to aid healthcare professionals involved in emergency response to effectively decontaminate patients, protect themselves and others from contamination, communicate with other involved personnel, efficiently transport patients to a medical facility, and provide competent medical evaluation and treatment to exposed persons.
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Chemical classifications (US ATSDR)Chemical classes are groupings that relate chemicals by similar features. Chemicals can be classified by their structure (e.g., hydrocarbons), uses (e.g., pesticides), physical properties (e.g., volatile organic compounds [VOCs]), radiological properties (e.g., radioactive materials), or other factors. The chemical classes identified below are ones used by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) to address hazardous substances.
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Public Health Statements (US ATSDR)The ATSDR Public Health Statements (PHSs) listed below are a series of summaries about hazardous substances developed by the ATSDR Division of Toxicology. The information in these PHSs has been taken from Chapter One of their respective ATSDR Toxicological Profiles. Each Public Health Statement serves as a summary for that complete Toxicological Profile. The PHSs provide information in a question and answer format which address the most frequently asked questions about exposure to hazardous substances found around hazardous waste sites and the effects of exposure on human health.
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ToxFAQs (US ATSDR)The ATSDR ToxFAQs™ is a series of summaries about hazardous substances developed by the ATSDR Division of Toxicology. Information for this series is excerpted from the ATSDR Toxicological Profiles and Public Health Statements. Each fact sheet serves as a quick and easy to understand guide. Answers are provided to the most frequently asked questions (FAQs) about exposure to hazardous substances found around hazardous waste sites and the effects of exposure on human health.
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ToxGuide (US ATSDR)The ATSDR ToxGuides™ are quick reference guides providing information such as chemical and physical properties, sources of exposure, routes of exposure, minimal risk levels, children's health, and health effects. The ToxGuides™ also discuss how the substance might interact in the environment. The ToxGuides™ were developed by the ATSDR Division of Toxicology and and Human Health Sciences. Information is excerpted from the corresponding toxicological profiles.
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ToxZine (US ATSDR)https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/sites/toxzine/index.html
The following report is Congressionally mandated and is regularly updated.
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Report on Carcinogens (US National Toxicology Program)The Report on Carcinogens is a congressionally mandated, science-based, public health document that NTP prepares for the HHS Secretary. This cumulative report currently includes 248 listings of agents, substances, mixtures, and exposure circumstances that are known or reasonably anticipated to cause cancer in humans.
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Chemical list: Report on Carcinogens Monographs (US National Toxicology Program)Scroll down for a cumulative list of the chemicals covered in the report.
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Completed Substance Evaluations (US National Toxicology Program)Completed cancer hazard evaluations listed on this page include evaluations of substances since 1996, or the 8th report prepared by NTP.
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National Toxicology Program: Data & Resources (US NIH)TP makes a wide variety of data and resources available to researchers and the general public. This page includes links to NTP study data (including Data Downloads, Data Tables for Peer Review, and Chemical Effects in Biological Systems), as well as various resources devoted to pathology and test-method development.
The Immediately dangerous to life or health air concentration values (IDLH values) developed by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) characterize high-risk exposure concentrations and conditions, and are used as a component of respirator selection criteria.
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Immediately Dangerous To Life or Health (IDLH) (US NIOSH) ValuesThe Immediately dangerous to life or health air concentration values (IDLH values) developed by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) characterize these high-risk exposure concentrations and conditions and are used as a component of respirator selection criteria first developed in the mid-1970s. IDLH values are established (1) to ensure that the worker can escape from a given contaminated environment in the event of failure of the respiratory protection equipment and (2) to indicate a maximum level above which only a highly reliable breathing apparatus, providing maximum worker protection, is permitted.
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Table of IDLH Values (US NIOSH)This page contains links to all chemicals in the list.
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Criteria for Determining IDLH Values (US NIOSH)Note: This site is no longer updated.
The US Environmental Protection Agency provides health and environmental information on specific chemicals found as a result of base closures, during Superfund clean-ups, and/or related to Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA).
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Emerging Contaminants and Federal Facility Contaminants of Concern (US EPA)EPA published the following technical fact sheets, which provide brief summaries of contaminants of concern that present unique issues and challenges to the environmental community and EPA at contaminated federal facility sites. Each fact sheet provides a brief summary of the contaminant, including physical and chemical properties, environmental and health impacts, existing federal and state guidelines, and detection and treatment methods. These fact sheets are intended for project managers and field personnel to use when addressing specific contaminants at cleanup sites and are updated annually to include timely information.
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Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) (US EPA)See more to view the IRIS assessments for the toxicity values for health effects resulting from chronic exposure to chemicals.
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TRI Background Documents for Persistent, Bioaccumulative, and Toxic (PBT) Chemicals (US EPA)EPA is providing background information to the public for each of the five PBT chemicals. These use documents provide a preliminary summary of available information collected by EPA on the manufacturing (including importing), processing, distribution in commerce, use, and disposal of each chemical. This is based on existing data available to EPA, including information collected under the Chemical Data Reporting rule, information from other Agency databases, other U.S. Government agencies, publicly available information from states, and a review of published literature.
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CompTOX Dashboard (US EPA)This resource is a compilation of information sourced from many sites, databases and sources including U.S. Federal and state sources and international bodies that saves the user time by providing information in one location. The data are not reviewed by USEPA – the user must apply judgment in use of the information.
New Jersey is the home of many petrochemical plants. The Right to Know Hazardous Substance Facts Sheets have been developed for the consumer.
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Right to Know Hazardous Substance Fact Sheets (NJ Department of Health)The Fact Sheets are prepared for substances on the New Jersey Right to Know Hazardous Substance List. More than 1,600 Fact Sheets have been completed and more than 900 have been translated into Spanish. The Fact Sheets are prepared on pure substances and contain information on health hazards, exposure limits, personal protective equipment, proper handling, first aid, and emergency procedures for fires and spills
The National Library of Medicine (part of the National Institutes of Health) has developed a strong collection of resources that focus on the effects of chemicals on our health.
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PubChem (US NLM)PubChem is an open chemistry database at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). It contains the Hazardous Substances Databases (HSDB).
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TOXLINE in PubMedThis links to the toxicology subset of the PubMed database. A search is started:
tox [subset] AND
You need to fill after AND
For example:
tox [subset] AND coal dust AND mortality
To see how it works, copy the above search and paste into PubMed. -
ITER (International Toxicology Estimates for Risk (US NLM)ITER contains data in support of human health risk assessments. It is compiled by Toxicology Excellence for Risk Assessment (TERA) and contains data from CDC/ATSDR, Health Canada, RIVM, U.S. EPA, IARC, NSF International and independent parties offering peer-reviewed risk values.
ITER will move to the NCBI Bookshelf by the end of 2019 -
Environmental Health (US National Library of Medline)For consumers, this page is from the excellent MedlinePlus collection. MedlinePlus takes the guesswork out of trying to determine if the information is reliable and the source authoritative. They have done the evaluation work for you!
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Salud Ambiental (US National Library of Medicine)Environmental health from Medline Plus in Spanish.
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Household Products Database (US NLM)This database provides safety and health effects information for consumers on a wide variety of products commonly found in the home.
HSDB will be shut down in December 2019.