Information Resources for Environmental Health Research and Practice

TOXNET (toxnet.nlm.nih.gov), a network of toxicology and environmental health databases.

Haz-Map (hazmap.nlm.nih.gov), an occupational health database.

Tox Town (toxtown.nlm.nih.gov), an interactive guide to potentially hazardous substances in the environment.

TOXinvaders, a game app that supports middle school science concepts (for iPad and iPhone).

TOXMAP (toxmap.nlm.nih.gov/toxmap), a database that helps users visually explore data from the US EPA's Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) and Superfund Program.

Household Products Database (householdproducts.nlm.nih.gov), a database identifying over 14,000 consumer product brands, their chemical ingredients, and health and safety warnings from manufacturer labels and Material Safety Data Sheets.

Funded by the National Library of Medicine under Contract No. HHS-N-276-2011-00008-C with the University of Washington.

The University of Washington Health Sciences Library serves as the regional Network Office for network member organizations throughout the NN/LM, Pacific Northwest Region, including the states of Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington.

Emily J. Glenn, MSLS, AHIPCommunity Health Outreach CoordinatorNational Network of Libraries of Medicine, Pacific Northwest RegionUniversity of Washington Health Sciences Librarynnlm.gov/pnr/

Contact the Pacific Northwest Regional office of National Medical Library to request copies of any educational materials. The regional office also available to teach or consult on developing programs about resources from the National Library of Medicine.

TOXNETAn industrial hygienist is preparing a report on exposure of oilfield workers to silica dust and links to lung cancer. She conducts a search on TOXNET’s Hazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB) and finds numerous excerpts of peer reviewed human exposure studies.

Haz-MapA primary care physician suspects that a patient’s illness may be due to an occupational exposures. The patient, an automotive glass installer, exhibits signs of neuropathy. A search on Haz-Map reveals that glass installers are exposed to n-hexane, which may induce neuropathy.

sis.nlm.nih.gov/enviro.html

Tox TownA science teacher and nurse at a middle school located in a coastal area with a polluted and recently closed beach want to develop a short lesson plan on water pollution for students. They look at NLM’s Tox Town Web site and click on the picture of a port, where they find a listing of chemicals that may appear on a polluted beach. They also discover TOXinvaders, which provides a quiz module on chemical safety.

Household Products DatabaseA health educator is planning a presentation for daycare workers on the safety of paints for craft projects with small children. He searches the Household Products Database and finds information on the safety of different types of paints, including spray, glitter, puffy, and fabric paints.

timely information is vital for these activities. The Internet is replete with environmental health web sites but with so many sites, it can be difficult to identify high quality, accurate information. The National Library of Medicine (NLM), part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), sponsors the Toxicology and Environmental Health Information Program (TEHIP) which disseminates scientific and consumer health information (http://sis.nlm.nih.gov/enviro.html) for free on the web.

F rom exposure to pesticides to the safety of the water supply, environmental health professionals are responsible for ensuring the public’s safety from environmental hazards. Access to reliable,

This poster demonstrates the application of NLM’s environmental health resources and databases to environmental health topics. Selected resources include:

Scenarios

TOXMAPA public health researcher wants to learn about Superfund sites in eastern Washington. He finds the name of several sites and drills down to see names, status, an alphabetical list of contaminants, and an EPA progress profile. Views of county-level nationwide data from the US Census, like Population Growth Rate (shown) are also available. Contact

Acknowledgments

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