ECDIN database

Environmental Chemicals Data and Information Network (ECDIN) Environmental Fate (ENVIROFATE) Environmental Eate Databases... 

CAS = Chemical Abstracts Service ECDIN = Environmental Chemicals Data and Infonnation Network HSDB = Hazardous Substances Data Bank PHYSPROP = Physical Properties Database (contains ChemS, arailable online at hUp /esc.syrres.com/ChemS3/deteulthtm)... 

ECDIN is a factual databank, created at the Ispra Establishment of the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the Commission of the European Communities as a part of the Commission s Environmental Research Programme. The databank enables people engaged in environmental management and research to obtain reliable information on chemical compounds. The databank brings together a wide variety of data on chemicals which actually or potentially occur in the environment as a result of human activities. The broad spectrum of parameters and properties contained in ECDIN provides the user with general information on chemical substances and supports the evaluation of the risks connected to the use of these substances. The ECDIN database establishes links between various types of data is therefore a powerful tool for correlation analyses. 

The data for the ECDIN databank are collected by specialised research institutions working under contract to the Commission. The contractors scan the published and unpublished literature and extract data for ECDIN. Information about the source for the individual data items is stored in the databank together with the extracted data. The data collection is supervised by a group of the Commission s scientific staff working at the Ispra Establishment of JRC. The ECDIN group in Ispra also takes care of the loading of the data into the database and of the general maintenance of the databank. 

The data are stored in the ECDIN database in a structured way. Different data items are put into different fields, and data read directly from the databank are only useful if you know from which field in which file they have been read. The user sees the data after they have passed a formatting program, which inserts the retrieved data in an explanatory text. The following examples are shown as the user sees the data. 

Chemical structure information is an important part of the ECDIN database. From the start of the project the Commission has supported collaboration between the ECDIN... 

The ECDIN database consists of a set of ADABAS files. There are more than 30 production files and a similar number of files used for new developments. Each of the... 

Most of the ECDIN ADABAS files contain data related to a chemical compound, and in these files, each record contains an ECDIN number, which links the record to one record in the central Compound File. The ECDIN number can also be used to relate data in two files directly to each other without involving the Compound File. Figure 11 illustrates a part of the database design including files which are not linked directly to the Compound File. 

Three chapters about online databases follow. Clemens Jochum s concerns the construction of the Beilstein Online database. Of particular interest are the complete representation of stereochemistry and the replacement of bond orders by electronic information, allowing a global, and unique, representation of tautomers. Ole Norager describes the ECDIN project, in which data has been collected on environmental chemicals and made accessible online. Gerry vander Stouw shows how the Chemical Abstracts Registry System Enhancements Feasibility Study project identified aspects of the CAS structuring conventions which create problems for users and he considers the improvements which may be recommended. 

Databank) and ECDIN (Environmental Chemicals Data and Information Network) (see Chemical Safety Information Databases). HSDS gives extensive information about 4500 dangerous substances on practically all information types mentioned in Section 3. ECDIN is still available online and on CD-ROM. It comprises data on approximate 100000 chemicals, but the given datasets on each substance are often not completely filled with actual data. For some time ECDIN has also been available on the Internet free of charge. ... 

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