Computerized product information system: The Toxicological Index

The Toxicological Index, a division of the Commission de la Santé et de la Sécurité du Travail, was established in 1980 by the Quebec Government. Its main objective, as a database producer, is to provide health and safety related toxicological information to anyone who is involved in risk management in the workplace. In order to meet this requirement, a fully computerized information system was created. It has allowed us to process, over the past 5 years, 250,000 information inquiries, to register 100,000 contaminants, to exchange information with 3,300 product manufacturers and to provide our users with 6,500 fully reviewed toxicological information profiles. The procedure used to assess the information as well as the choices made to achieve our objective in terms of quantity and quality of the information provided are described.