Category Archives: Open Access

EPA’s HERO — public risk assessments database

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"US environment agency releases public database on risk assessments – 25 Mar 2010

The US’ Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced the release of the Health and Environmental Research Online (HERO) database. HERO seeks to provide access to the scientific studies used in making key regulatory decisions, including EPA’s periodic review of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for six major pollutants. It is part of the open government directive to conduct business with transparency, participation and collaboration.

The publicly accessible HERO database is projected to provide an easy way to review the scientific literature behind EPA science assessments, which are used to support agency decision-making. It includes more than 300,000 scientific articles including the authors, titles, dates and abstracts. In addition, through a keyword search, anyone can see information from the articles that were used to develop specific risk assessments.

HERO includes peer-reviewed literature used by EPA to develop its Integrated Science Assessments (ISA) that feed into the NAAQS review. It also includes references and data from the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS), a database that supports critical agency policymaking for chemical regulation. More information on the database is available at http://www.epa.gov/hero "

Source: Knowledgespeak Newletter 3/25/10 & CHMINF Listserv.

New Toxicology Tutorial Available from NLM (National Library of Medicine)

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New Toxicology Tutorial Available

Source: Special Libraries Association, ERMD Newsletter, Winter 2010.

“ToxLearn, a new NLM resource, is now available. http://toxlearn.nlm.nih.gov

ToxLearn is a multi-module online learning tool that provides an introduction to toxicology. It can be used as an ancillary curriculum to a first-level undergraduate toxicology course, and can provide users of NLM’s toxicology databases with a working knowledge of basic toxicology principles. ToxLearn modules will be made available as they are completed. Module 1 covers “Toxicology and Dose Response.”

NTRL — an expanded version of NTIS Government Reports Index

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Besides NTIS, available via Engineering Village/Elsevier, Princeton University now has access to: NTRL (National Technical Reports Library)National Technical Information Service. Over 500,000 documents are available in full-text from departments such as Department of Energy, NASA, and the Environmental Protection Agency.

NTRS differs from NTIS in that it covers more years, mainly from 1960, but as far back as 1800. The database is updated daily and there is full text for about 25% of the reports.

Source: P.U.’s Engineering Library and Database Management Group

Springer offers free environmental sciences articles

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“The Environmental Sciences Reading Room is a FREE service that will provide you with unlimited access to our Environmental journals, 6 times a year. No charge, no catch!

Access is free, quick and easy. Just follow this link and enter the Reading Room today! “

Selection for January – February 2010

The following Environmental journals have been selected and will be available to you until the end of February 2010:

  • Environmental Health
    • Aerobiologia
    • Microbial Ecology
  • Global Change – Climate Change
    • Oecologia
    • Energy Efficiency
  • Pollution & Remediation
    • Air Quality, Atmosphere & Health
    • Water, Air, & Soil Pollution
  • Environmental Management
    • Environmental Management
    • The Environmentalist
  • Sustainability
    • Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy
  • Aquatic Sciences
    • Estuaries and Coasts
    • Aquaculture International

Make sure to add this page to your favorites and to forward this link your colleagues! www.springer.com/environmentalreadingroom

Please note that you will continue to have unlimited access if your library or institution has an online subscription.

Princeton University now has subscriptions to all the Springer journals.

HAZ-MAP — occupational health database from NLM

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NLM® Resource — Haz-Map® Update from NLM-ANNOUNCES@LIST.NIH.GOV

[Editor’s Note: This is a reprint of an announcement published on NLM-Tox-Enviro-Health-L, an e-mail announcement list available from the NLM Division of Specialized Information Services. To subscribe to this list, please see the NLM-TOX-ENVIRO-HEALTH-L Join, Leave, or Change Options page.]

Haz-Map, a database from the National Library of Medicine® on the effects of occupational exposure to potentially toxic agents, has added 265 agents.

These agents include 60 assorted metal compounds, 100 rare earth metals, 10 uranium compounds, and 16 metallic perchlorate compounds. Also added are 9 thiols, 4 sulfites, 20 nitriles, 6 glycol ethers, 4 fluorides, 7 aldehydes, and 5 acid anhydrides.

Haz-Map is an occupational health database designed for health and safety professionals and for consumers seeking information about the health effects of exposure to chemicals and biologicals at work. Haz-Map links jobs and hazardous tasks with occupational diseases and their symptoms. It covers 3218 agents and 225 occupational diseases.

More information about Haz-Map can be found at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/factsheets/hazmap.html

H1N1 (influenza) free Searchable Information Center (ebrary)

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The ebrary staff has created an in-depth searchable cluster of information about the H1N1 virus, sometimes known as the "swine flu". It consists of reports, papers, newsletters, and posters from government agencies and "other trusted souces". This database is highly interactive with options for searching, navigating and browsing, notes and highlights. Ebrary software, "InfoTools", renders each word a portal to further web searching. Text can be copied, pasted, transfered to folders, sent to others, and bibliographic citations and URLs are provided.

Thoreau’s Legacy: American Stories about Global Warming

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This book is available free on the Web, compiled by the Union of Concerned Scientists in 2009:

Thoreau’s Legacy: American Stories about Global Warming introduces a new generation of writers and photographers with a personal connection to global warming. The 67 essays and images in this anthology are drawn from nearly 1,000 submissions about beloved places, people, plants, animals, and activities at risk from a changing climate—and the efforts that individuals are making to save what they love. A foreword by author Barbara Kingsolver serves as a powerful call to action.
The essays we selected represent a variety of perspectives, voices, and experiences. The authors follow in the long tradition of great American environmental writers, like Henry David Thoreau, who have broadened our awareness and sharpened our perspective about the world we share. And they are inspiring action to protect our planet from global warming. They are Thoreau’s legacy.

Source: Email from Union of Concerned Scientists [action@ucsusa.org] June 22, 2009.

NRC Report Examines Hidden Costs of Energy

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"October 19, 2009 — A new report from the National Research Council examines "hidden" costs of energy production and use — such as the the health impacts of air pollution — that are not reflected in market prices of coal or oil. The quantifiable damages alone were an estimated $120 billion in the U.S. in 2005, a number that reflects primarily health damages caused by air pollution from electricity generation and motor vehicle transportation."

Source: National Academies Newsletter; WhatsNew@nationalacademies.org

Climate Change Conference, free online, Smithsonian Institution

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The Smithsonian Education Online Conference on Climate Change" is a 3-day, free, education online conference taking place, Sept. 29 – Oct. 1, 2009.

Open to everyone, registration is here:

http://www.SmithsonianEducation.org/Climate

Sessions will be recorded for later viewing at the same site.

Climate change issues will be discussed from the aspects of science, history and art.

Source: Email from John Walber at LearningTimes.org.