The Environment & You: Health Effects

1. The Environment & You: Health Effects Helena VonVille, MLS Library Directory University of Texas School of Public Health at Houston Harris County Public Library

2. What are the health effects? • Right to Know Hazardous Substances Fact Sheets • Some Fact Sheets now available in Spanish • Special list for Chemical Carcinogens • Hazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB) • Available through TOXMAP • ToxFAQS (available in Spanish) • Available through TOXMAP • Public Health Statements (available in Spanish) • Available through TOXMAP Return to Workshop Agenda

3. Right to Know Hazardous Substances Fact Sheets These are designed more for the layperson and are a little easier to understand than some of the other resources. Notice that there are now 50 newly revised Fact Sheets in Spanish! Take me to Right to Know

4. Vinyl Chloride Fact Sheet Take me to Right to Know

5. Fact Sheet Health Information Acute Health Effects, Chronic (long term) Health Effects, Cancer Hazard, Reproductive Hazards, Other Long-Term Effects Take me to Right to Know

6. Chemical Carcinogens Take me to Health Effects Menu Take me to Right to Know

7. Take me to HSDB Hazardous Substances Data Bank This is one of several research tools available from the National Library of Medicine. When you have a chance, take a look at the Household Products Database. Do you know what’s in your cleaning products? vinyl chloride Enter your term and click on Search.

8. Take me to HSDB HSDB Search Results At the search results page, click on the item you want to view. Notice it found 176 items, but the first matches the search exactly. Note: HSDB reports are written by scientists for scientists!

9. Take me to HSDB Vinyl Chloride Report

10. Take me to HSDB HSDB Report Contents The minus sign (-) indicates that you are viewing all of the sections within that chapter. The plus sign (+) indicates that there are sections within the chapter. Just click on the plus sign to expand any one of the chapters.

11. Take me to HSDB HSDB Report Text HSDB will indicate if this has been classified as a cancer-causing substance. Take me to Health Effects Menu

12. ToxFAQS- Available through TOXMAP At the ToxFAQ A-Z Index, click on the letter your chemical begins with. This will bring up a list of chemicals that start with that letter.

13. ToxFAQ Report The report consists of a table of contents on the right and the text on the left. The table of contents is linked to sections within the text so you can easily move to the section you want to read.

14. ToxFAQ Report (cont’d) From the table of contents, you can get a good feel as to the topics covered, including the effect on children and whether the chemical is cancer-causing.

15. Public Health Statements At the PH Statements A-Z Index, click on the letter your chemical begins with. Click on your chemical to go to the full report.

16. Return to Releases Menu PH Statement Report Again, the table of contents gives you a good sense as to the what information you will find in this document. Take me to Health Effects Menu