Registry of Toxic Effects of Chemical Substances (RTECS) is a
database
In computing, a database is an organized collection of data stored and accessed electronically. Small databases can be stored on a file system, while large databases are hosted on computer clusters or cloud storage. The design of databases ...
of
toxicity
Toxicity is the degree to which a chemical substance or a particular mixture of substances can damage an organism. Toxicity can refer to the effect on a whole organism, such as an animal, bacterium, or plant, as well as the effect on a subs ...
information compiled from the open scientific literature without reference to the validity or usefulness of the studies reported. Until 2001 it was maintained by
US National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) as a freely available publication. It is now maintained by the private company
BIOVIA
BIOVIA is a software company headquartered in the United States, with representation in Europe and Asia. It provides software for chemical, materials and bioscience research for the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, consumer packaged goods, aerosp ...
or from several value-added resellers and is available only for a fee or by subscription.
Contents
Six types of toxicity data are included in the file:
# Primary
irritation
Irritation, in biology and physiology, is a state of inflammation or painful reaction to allergy or cell-lining damage. A stimulus or agent which induces the state of irritation is an irritant. Irritants are typically thought of as chemical age ...
#
Mutagenic effects
#
Reproductive
The reproductive system of an organism, also known as the genital system, is the biological system made up of all the anatomical organs involved in sexual reproduction. Many non-living substances such as fluids, hormones, and pheromones are a ...
effects
#
Tumor
A neoplasm () is a type of abnormal and excessive growth of tissue. The process that occurs to form or produce a neoplasm is called neoplasia. The growth of a neoplasm is uncoordinated with that of the normal surrounding tissue, and persists ...
igenic effects
# Acute toxicity
# Other multiple dose toxicity
Specific numeric toxicity values such as ,
LC50,
TDLo, and
TCLo are noted as well as
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriat ...
studied and the route of administration used. For all data the bibliographic source is listed. The studies are not evaluated in any way.
History
RTECS was an activity mandated by the
US Congress
The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washin ...
, established by Section 20(a)(6) of the
Occupational Safety and Health Act
The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 is a US labor law governing the federal law of occupational health and safety in the private sector and federal government in the United States. It was enacted by Congress in 1970 and was signed by P ...
of 1970 (PL 91-596). The original edition, known as the ''Toxic Substances List'' was published on June 28, 1971, and included toxicological data for approximately 5,000
chemicals. The name changed later to its current name ''Registry of Toxic Effects of Chemical Substances''. In January 2001 the database contained 152,970 chemicals. In December 2001 RTECS was transferred from NIOSH to the private company
Elsevier MDL. Symyx acquired MDL from Elsevier in 2007 and the Toxicity database was included in the acquisition. The Toxicity database is only accessible for charge on an annual subscription base.
RTECS is available in English, French and Spanish language versions, offered by the
Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety
The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) is an independent departmental corporation under Schedule II of the Financial Administration Act and is accountable to Parliament through the Minister of Labour.
CCOHS functions as the ...
. The database subscription is offered on the Web, on CD-ROM and as an Intranet format. The database is also available online from NISC (National Information Services Corporation, RightAnswer.com, an
ToxPlanet(Timberlake Ventures, Inc)).
References
External links
{{Wikidata property, P657
RightAnswer WebsiteToxPlanet Website
Chemical safety
Chemical databases
Toxic effects of substances chiefly nonmedicinal as to source