ABSTRACT
Introduction ............................................................................................................ 740 Challenges and Opportunities of Informatics Tools in Toxicology and Risk-Assessment Collaborations ..................................................................... 741
English versus Non-English Language Access ................................................. 741 Chemical and Toxicological Language Processing ........................................... 741 Financing/Funding and Use of Emerging Informatics Tools ............................ 741
Web Evolution and Semantic Web ......................................................................... 742 Selected Resources ................................................................................................. 743
Intergovernmental and other Global Agencies .................................................. 743 OECD Portal and Databases ............................................................................. 744
Europe .................................................................................................................... 745 Selected European Union and European Commission Toxicology and Risk-Assessment Databases ....................................................................... 745
Sweden ................................................................................................................... 746 Finland ................................................................................................................... 746 Netherlands ............................................................................................................ 747 Russia ..................................................................................................................... 747 Africa ..................................................................................................................... 747
South Africa ...................................................................................................... 747 Australia ................................................................................................................. 748 North and South America ....................................................................................... 748
United States ..................................................................................................... 748 National Library of Medicine ....................................................................... 748 US Environmental Protection Agency .......................................................... 750 Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry .................................... 751 A Few More US Databases .......................................................................... 752
Canada ............................................................................................................... 752 Mexico ............................................................................................................... 754
Information is the foundation of knowledge. The conferences, conventions, and organizations discussed elsewhere in this book rely upon information to undertake their activities and, in turn, generate it as outcomes of their efforts. Paper resources, while by no means extinct, have largely given way to a robust spectrum of digital tools-documents, databases, portals, and compilations of information, virtually all online via the Web and, to a large extent, free. In the twenty-žrst century, this information is also increasingly graphical, interactive, collaborative. Sound science is the bedrock of effective chemicals management and policy. At the outset, this chapter will highlight some issues in the use of informatics tools for knowledge generation and sharing. It will take a brief look at how new technologies and social networking applications (Web 2.0) have fostered the creation, sharing, and distribution of this data, and speculate about what lies ahead in the realm of informatics applications. Further, it will offer a selective overview of global and select country-specižc information resources in toxicology and risk assessment, which support decision making in chemicals management and policy.
