RTECS, also known as Registry of Toxic Effects of Chemical Substances, is a database of toxicity information compiled from the open scientific literature that is available for charge. Until 2001 it was maintained by US National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and is now maintained by the private company Elsevier MDL. A database is a collection of information stored in a computer in a systematic way, such that a computer program can consult it to answer questions. ... Toxicity is a measure to the degree to which something is toxic or poisonous. ... 2001 is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Wikiquote quotations related to: United States Wikinews has news related to this article: United States United States government Official website of the United States government - Gateway to governmental sites White House - Official site of the US President Senate. ... The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) is the United States federal agency responsible for conducting research and making recommendations for the prevention of work-related injury and illness. ...

Contents

Six types of toxicity data are included in the file:

1. primary irritation
2. mutagenic effects
3. reproductive effects
4. tumorigenic effects
5. acute toxicity
6. other multiple dose toxicity

Specific numeric toxicity values such as LD50, LC50, TDLo, and TCLo are noted as well as species studied and the route of administration used. For all data the bibliographic source is listed. Irritation is an observable physiological reaction to a stimulus that the organism instinctually avoids. ... In biology, a mutagen (Latin, literally origin of change) is an agent that changes the genetic information (usually DNA) of an organism and thus increases the number of mutations above the natural background level. ... Reproduction is perhaps most commonly used in the context of biological reproduction and sex: Sexual reproduction is a biological process by which organisms create descendants through the combination of genetic material. ... See the article about cancer for the main article about malignant tumors. ... In toxicology, the LD50 or colloquially semilethal dose of a particular substance is a measure of how much constitutes a lethal dose. ... In biology, a species is a kind of organism. ...

History

RTECS was an activity mandated by the US Congress, established by Section 20(a)(6) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act 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 transfered from NIOSH to the private company Elsevier MDL and is now only accessible for charge on an annual subscription base. The Congress of the United States is the legislative branch of the federal government of the United States of America. ... The Occupational Safety and Health Act, known more generally as the OSH Act, was signed into US law by President Richard M. Nixon on December 29, 1970. ... 1970 was a common year starting on Thursday. ... (Some entries on this page have been duplicated on August 1. ... 1971 is a common year starting on Friday (click for link to calendar). ... A chemical substance is any material substance used in or obtained by a process in chemistry: A chemical compound is a substance consisting of two or more chemical elements that are chemically combined in fixed proportions. ... January is the first month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of seven Gregorian months with the length of 31 days. ... 2001 is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... December is the twelfth and last month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of seven Gregorian months with the length of 31 days. ... 2001 is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

See also

External links

• RTECS overview (http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/rtecs.html)
• Elsevier MDL website (http://mdl.com/products/predictive/rtecs/index.jsp)