On-line information sources on chemical substances

Information technology has brought about changes in the work patterns of researchers and scientists. After some hints on the on-line facilities needed to be connected to the international host computers, an analysis is made of some of the main automated sources available to retrieve information on chemical substances. Special emphasis is given to textual-numeric data banks, first reviewing the main chemical dictionaries, like Registry and Chemline, and then focusing on those sources that offer immediate information in case of emergency. Among the Toxnet files, produced and managed within the US National Library of Medicine Toxicology Information Program, play a very important role in offering publicly available data on toxicology and on hazardous chemicals. Therefore, the Hazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB) and the Registry of Toxic Effects of Chemical Substances (RTECS) are described for their relevance thereon. Other data banks produced in Europe, like the Environmental Chemicals Data Information Network (ECDIN) and the very specialized Major Hazard Incident Data Service (MHIDAS) are also briefly outlined. To integrate this overview on online information, the attention is then shifted on sources having the characteristic of reference databases: prestigious files covering the international scientific literature, as CA/Chemabs, Toxline/Toxlit, Embase, Medline are introduced. Implications of on-line technology in enhancing information access in the next future are discussed, pointing out the new tools created to meet the information needs of end-users.