Toxicity and Chemical Properties: Reference Sources
The Library has several useful sources available that describe chemicals, their toxicity properties and health effects:
- NIOSH Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards (SMC REF T55.3 H3 N56 2005): Organized by chemical name with a separate trade name and synonym index in the back. Details exposure limits (Caution! This data is old and may have been updated since this was printed), chemical and physical properties, health hazards, including route of contact and symptomology. This source is particularly accessible to the non-scientist.
- Sax's Dangerous Properties of Industrial Materials (SMC REF T55.3.H3 S3 2004): The "Safety Profile" section for each chemical is a summary of the toxicity, flammability, reactivity, incompatibility and other dangerous properties. See vol. 1 for the synonym cross-index.
- Macmillan Dictionary of Toxicology: Coverage includes biochemical and environmental toxicology, chemical carcinogenesis, risk assessment and risk management.
- Agrochemicals Desk Reference: Environmental Data (SMC REF TD427.A35 M66 1993): Lists chemicals, their uses in agriculture, properties, exposure limits, symptoms of exposure and toxicity levels.
There are also some good online sources:
- The U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services maintains the Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry, which provides information about the effects on human health of toxic substances likely to be found in and around hazardous waste sites. Public Health Statements from the U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services are summaries for the complete Toxicological Profiles of hazardous substances.
- Visit the Dept. of Health & Human Services' main Environmental Health & Toxicology Information site and explore the other resources available.
- Consumer Product Information Database: Provides information on what's in household products and potential health effects of substances included in household products.
- Pesticide Info: From the Pesticide Action Network, this database the chemistry, toxcity, poisoning symptoms, regulatory information, and some other data for pesticides.
Toxicity and Chemical Properties: Journal Databases
Use the following databases to find journal articles about specific pollutants. Be sure to try your search(es) separately using both the common chemical name and the scientific name if one or the other of the searches yields no results.
- Agricola: The premiere database for agriculture topics
- Greenfile: A database for journal articles on environmental topics
- Health Source, Consumer Edition: Articles in health and medicine journals and magazines; has more non-scientific literature than Medline
- PubMed: Covers the scientific literature in medicine
