The following are references in Environmental
Chemistry:
1. General References
o
The on-line National Library for the Environment is a very
useful site with the following resources: issue reports, environmental law,
demography, and ecology.
o
The EPA maintains
Envirofacts,
a one-stop access to data drawn from six major EPA databases, as well as cross
references to other sources of information. Two other EPA portals to
information are the Environmental Information
Management System and a search engine of abstracts
to EPA reports.
o
The Extoxnet Infobase (Extension Toxicology Network) which is a
cooperative effort of scientists at the University of California-Davis,
o
The Agricultural
Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture maintains TEKTRAN
(Technology Transfer Automated Retrieval System). TEKTRAN provides access to
abstracts of USDA work that is very relevant to environmental science.
o
CambridgeSoft maintains ChemFinder, a remarkably efficient Internet search
engine, which searches for information on specific compounds by name, formula,
CAS registry number, and molecular weight. Most of the hits are related to
toxic properties.
o
The National
Academy of Sciences once maintained a Web site with most of the reports
generated by the now defunct Office of Technology Assessment. Access to the
archives of the OTA is now provided by Princeton University.
o
The Department of
Energy maintains EnergyFiles, an extensive collection of links to
databases relating to energy. The project is run by the Office of Scientific
and Technical Information (OSTI).
o
WorldAtom
is the official Web site of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in
Wien. The site offers an extensive array of reports, data, and other resources.
o
A joint effort of
the United Nations' Environmental Program (UNEP)
and the World Health Organization's Environmental Epidemiology Network
(WHO-GEENET) is a page that is a clearing house of Web sites related to the
safe use of chemicals, environmental epidemiology, and the persistence of
chemicals in the environment.
o
Information on
Population. The Centre for Population
Biology maintains The Global
Population Dynamics Database [P. Inchausti and J.
Halley, Science, 293, 655 (2001)]. Quoting from the abstract of
the article: "The GPDD is an important new source of information for
ecologists, resource managers, and environmental scientists interested in the
dynamics of new populations." The Population
Division of the United Nations maintains a Populations Database that
includes access to its reports. The user specifies the data to be accessed and
displayed. A comparable UN site is the United
Nations Population Information Network. The Population Reference Bureau
maintains a Data Finder with data from more
than 220 countries. This site has an focus on issues related to family
planning.
o
The World
Wildlife Fund Web site contains information on more than 800 ecoregions.
The site includes an informative map. The report Africa Environmental Report can be accessed
from a UN site.
o
FishBase
is a database with information on more than 26,000 species of fish. The
database has an environmental emphasis. The U.S. Geologic Survey maintains the NAWQA
database on water quality that contains data on the effects of pollution on
aquatic organisms.
o
Earthtrends is
a Web environmental almanac that is managed by the World Resources Institute in
o
Contemporary
geography is a cross-disciplinary field that significantly overlaps
environmental science. Gavin Richards has developed GeoExplorer,
a Web site oriented to students at the secondary level. It is packed with
resources on physical geography. The Geo-Images Project at
the University of California-Berkeley is a large collection of images related
to geology and physical geography.
o
The Circumpolar Arctic Vegetation Map maintained
at the
o
The U. S.
Geological Survey provides through its WWW sites access to very useful data on
water quality.
§
acid rain (available at the Branch of
Quality Systems)
§
effects of pollution on aquatic organisms
(also cited above)
§
USGS Circulars (i.e. reports)
o
AQUASTAT is a
comparable Web site dedicated to water quality and assets that is maintained by
the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.
o
The Ecological
Society of America maintains EcoEdNet,
a collection of essays. experiments, and exercises for the class room that
covers all aspects of ecology. You have to register at no charge to use the
resources.
o
NOAA maintains an excellent Web site for the
weather. This site is used as a source of up-to-date information by government
agencies such as the U.S. Forest Service.
2. Toxic Properties (including MSDS data sheets)
o
The Office of
Response and Restoration of NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration) maintains an instructive ChemAids
page. ChemAids provides access to a database of
information on the chemical consequences of a disaster such as a derailment. It
also has an informative problem set.
o
TOXNET maintained by the National
Laboratory of Medicine is the gateway to a comprehensive system of databases on
toxicology, hazardous chemicals, and related areas. This should be your first
stop in finding information on the toxic properties of a substance. The full
records are very comprehensive and include information on physical and chemical
properties as well as safe use and disposal. The HSDB database is a good place
to start if you require quantitative data.
A good place to
start in a search of the massive government databases is NIH's
SIS. Links are provided to the Specialized
Information System. In starting to use the system, search by chemical name and
CAS Registry Number.
o
ECOTOX is an extensive database prepared
by the Environmental Protection Agency and contains quantitative data on the
impact of toxic substances on aquatic and terrestrial organisms. Searching for
data is expedited if you have the CAS number for the toxic substance. DSSTox, a
new site from the EPA, is an attempt to provide access to a wide range of
databases with a standard format. TOXNET is
a resource of the National Library of Medicine. It provides a searchable access
to a range of databases. If you know the CAS number, provide it.
A related EPAS
resource is the IRIS Tracer
that allows one to follow EPA assessments of hazardous substances.
Tox Town is an
interactive Website devoted to toxic substances and is maintained by the
National Library of Medicine. It is oriented to the general public and a
Macromedia Flash player must be installed in order to view its entertaining
graphics.
MAPPING OF
CONCENTRATIONS OF TOXIC SUBSTANCES
Emissions of substances are tracked by two government agencies. EPA's Toxic Release Inventory (TRI)
provides information on toxic substances. The European Union's European Polutant
Emission Register (EPER) covers both toxic materials and greenhouse gases. TOXMAP, a site of
the National Library of Medicine, provides a cartographical presentation of
emissions of more than 650 hazardous chemicals into the environment. The Web
site uses data from the EPA's Toxics Release Inventory. Geodata is
another
o
The Chemical
Reactivity Worksheet, a source of information on the reactivity of
substances, can be downloaded from NOAA. The Web site has other information on
chemical combinations that can lead to serious accidents.
o
The Instant Chemical Hazards and
Safety database is another source of data on toxic chemicals. The database
is small now but is growing. The information on the compounds in the database
is extensive. The inclusion of LD50's and other quantitative measures of
toxicity is noteworthy.
o
Another good
place to turn for quantitative data, e.g. LD50's, on toxic substances is the SIRI (Safety Information Resources,
Inc.) database.
o
A very
comprehensive database on pesticides is
provided by a Jinno Laboratory The
database includes spectra, structures, chemical and physical properties, and
toxicological data.
o
Chemical Backgrounds
is a Web site that provides informative essays on more than 100 chemicals that
have an effect on the health. Each essay addresses the properties and
pharmacology of the substance.
o
MSDS Solutions is a comprehensive Web database
of MSDS data sheets. You have to registrer to use the
database but there is not fee for the registration.
o
The Carcinogenic Potency Database is
maintained by pioneer Bruce Ames at the
3. Degradation of Molecules
in the Environment
o
The Biocatalysis/Biodegradation Database at the
o
o
The Environmental
Science Center of Syracuse Research Corporation has generously made available
the Environmental Fate Data Bases (EFDB).
These databases include DATALOG, a biobliographic
file; BIOLOG, sources of microbial toxicity and biodegradation; CHEMFATE, rate
data for degradation of compounds in the environment plus physical properties;
and BIODEG, experimental data from biodegradation studies. The Web site alsdo includes TSCATS, a database on toxic properties; KOW,
a database of octanol-water partition coefficients;
and a database on compounds involved in global warming and stratospheric ozone.
o
PBT Profiler is an online tool
for predicting the persistence, bioaccumulation potential, and toxicity of PBT
chemicals such as dioxins.
o
The Center for
Environmental Kinetics Analysis at
4. GIS: Data Acquired from
Remote Sensing
With the support and encouragement of Vice President Al Gore, data acquired by
satellites are now available on the WWW. This section provides links to GIS
databases that are relevant to environmental science.
o
Mapping
§
The National Atlas of the United States of America
is a comprehensive effort of the U.S. Geological Survey to provide Web
access to a diverse array of geographical information. The USGS is in the early
stages of developing its online National Map program
which when completed will surpass in quality and content its series of
topographic maps. The USGS
National Map Viewer is a useful tool towards that end.
§
US data in GIS ArcView
format which include topographical maps can be accessed through the Seamless site.
The topos are at the 1:100,000. The data also
includes satellite photographs, ground cover, and host of other GIS
information.
§
Those seeking topos in a 7.5' GIS format for
§
Data for
§
Data for
§
GIS topographical
data for most states can be obtained from the Libre site.
§
Terraserver is
a collaborative project of Microsoft Corp. and the USGS. Its library of topo maps and aerial photographs covers the entire country.
§
The Map Machine
of the National Geographic Society provides for much of the world satellite
pictures and highway maps that can be enhanced with geophysical and
demographical information such as the location earthquake faults.
§
This Cornell University site allows you to
make a digital map with the details that you select. Some of the site's own
maps are interactive.
§
The
§
A site maintained
by the library at the University of Arkansas is a Web guite to
GIS resources covering a broad range of disciplines.
§
Check out Google Earth. You will be able to download freeware
from the site that allows one access to detailed aearial
pictures covering the entire globe. Amazon is
in the process of releasing a service that provides street maps for the entire
country that will be accompanied by photographs.
§
The Crystal Lake website
provides topo maps that cover, section by section,
the entire
§
The US NOAA
(National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) maintains a number of sites
that provide information on the weather.
§
home page for NOAA
§
National Weather Service, weather patterns
and forecasts
§
Department of
Commerce weather page
§
OSEI (Operational Significant
Event Imagery Team)
§
GOES (Geostationary Operational
Environmental Satellite Project)
§
For extreme
weather conditions, consult a special Web site from the National
Climatic Data Center.
§
Wildfires have
become a major problem. the GEOMAC USGS site tracks the status of major
fires such the the Williams Fires in the
§
NASA maintains this IMS (Information
Management System) as access to a master catalogue to DAAC's
(Distributed Active Archive Centers) of EOS (Earth Observing System) data.
There is a fee if you wish to order a particular dataset.
The following
agencies participate in the EOS program:
§
EROS Data Center, land features
(Landsat images) and processes
§
Goddard Space Flight Center, upper
atmosphere, atmospheric dynamics, and global biosphere
§
Related is the PM_ESIP (Passive Microwave Earth Science
Information Project) that assembles global maps of surface temperature,
wind speed, and precipitation from microwave data.
§
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Ocean
Circulation and Air-Sea Interaction
§
Alaska SAR Facility, sea ice and polar
processes
§
NWIS, data on hydrology from the USGS
§
Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center,
human interactions in global change
§
Global Hydrology Resource Center, global
hydrology
§
Oak Ridge National Laboratory,
biogeochemical dynamics
§
National Snow and Ice Data Center,
polar processes, cryosphere, and climate
§
Langley Research Center, radiation
budget, clouds, aerosols, and tropospheric chemistry
§
Directory of Earth Science Data Sets
§
The National Oceanographic Data Center is a
clearing house for data relating to the ocean.
§
The Naval
Research Laboratory maintains a Web site for its NLOM (Layered Ocean
Model) project which provides 30-day forecasts of ocean behavior.
§
The Space Science and Engineering Center
at the University of Wisconsin-Madison maintains a large collection satellite
images that provides a wealth of information on meteorology and geology.
§
The National Earthquake Information
Center of the US Geological Survey provides up-to-date information about
earthquakes throughout the globe. A mirror
site is also available. Consult
another USGS site for maps
of faults. Another USGS site provides current geologic survey maps"
§
Data on
earthquakes in
§
WorldWatcher
was developed by researchers of the Supportive Scientific Visualization
Environments for Education (SSciVEE) project at
§
The Flood Observatory at
§
The Web site of
the National Snow and Ice Data Center in
Boulder, Colorado provides more than 400 data sets tied to ice and snow but
other aspects of hydrology as well.
§
William Bowen
provides a collection of 500 computer-generated aerial images of terrestrial
landscapes in his geogdata site. The Jules
Map Server hosted by UNAVCO generates maps of the planets in the solar
system.
§
Biodiversity is
the focus of the Group on Earth Observations (GEO). The GEO
BON portal for the group provides a rich source of data on
biodiversity. Much of the data is
in GIS format.
4. Environmental Problems
o
Several sites
have developed visualization and mapping tools for displaying data associated
with pollution. Start with a cache of graphics from the United Nations' Environmental Programme.
The OMI site in
the
o
The EPA maintains an excellent
Web site dedicated to the stratospheric ozone problem. A NASA site provides
additional data and focuses on the ozone hole. Data can also be found at a
companion NASA site, Ozone Hole Watch.
o
The Stratospheric Ozone and Human Health
site is maintained by CIESIN (Center for
International Information Network) at
o
The Oxygenated Fuels Association presents its
case for the use of oxygenated fuels such as MTBE in controlling air pollution.
Some useful chemical information can be found in the Technical Library. The Web
site emphasizes public policy issues.
o
NASA's Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) is a
comprehensive set of links to satellite and ground-based datasets relating to
the atmosphere, the biosphere, and the hydrosphere. This is the best site for
information on changes in the global environment.
o
The Environmental Estrogens Web
page maintained by the Center for Bioenvironmental Research at Tulane and
o
Arsenic presents
a serious environmental problem. Richard Wilson at Harvard manages The Arsenic Website
Project, a source of information on arsenic.
o
Environmine provides an informative page on Acid Mine
Drainage.
o
Light pollution might not have dire
consequences for health but it can be devastating for the practice of optical
astronomy. This Web site has information on the problem that includes maps.
o
The report of the
Heinz Foundation on The State of
the Nations Ecosystems is now available online.
o
The Web page of
the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
is a gold mine of information on changes in the climate. The report of the UN Millennium Project summarizes the
findings of several task forces. Reports of the panel are available. The IPCC Data distribution Centre has its
own site. A companion Web site also dedicated to data on the climate is
maintained by the International Research
Institute for Climate Prediction at
o
Patterns of
below-normal precipitation present a related environmental problem. The Dought
Monitor maintained by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln provides a unfiied set of links to
government and private data related to precipitation.
o
The US EPA has a
site dedicated to Green Chemistry.
The site includes access to the software tool GCES, Green Chemistry Expert
System.
o
Serious accidents
are an unfortunate fact of life in science and technology. The Mary Kay O'Connor Process Safety Center
and the governmental Chemical Safety and Hazard
Investigation Board have Web sites with reports on accidents and their
causes. The discussion of some chemicals is sobering.
o
Emissions of
substances are tracked by two government agencies. EPA's Toxic Release Inventory (TRI)
provides information on toxic substances. The European Union's European Polutant
Emission Register (EPER) covers both toxic materials and greenhouse gases.
o
Environmental
Media Services hosts Realclimate,
a site devoted to global warming. The site was developed to counter industrial-supported
sites such as CO2science. The
opportunity to participate in modeling calculations and a discussion of the
theory underlying models for global warming are provided by the Climate Prediction site.
5. Methods of Energy
Production
o
NREL, the
National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden,
o
Los Alamos
National Laboratory provides Fuel Cells, Green Power
a 33-page document in pdf format describing the
technology. HyWeb is
a site in German and English that emphasizes the use of hydrogen in fuel cells.
Fuel Cells 2000, a third site, is
provided in English and Spanish by the Online Fuel Cells Information Center.
The Hydride-Metal Related
Data Base is maintained by Sandia. DOE's EERE
also has its Web site dedicated to hydrogen and fuel cells.
o
The Radiation and Health Physics Page,
maintained by students at the
o
The Alsos Digital Library
for Nuclear Issues is an online bibliography to informaiton
related to nuclear energy. Scientific
Digital Visions provides a dictionary of 1000 terms used in nuclear science
including measures of radiation damage.
o
The Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Network (EREN)
site of the US Department of Energy has links for information related to the
mission of the project.
o
The Danish Wind
Industry Association sponsors the Windpower Wev site that is
dedicated to all apsects of windpower.
last changed, 30 June 2009