E-SovTox: An Online Database of the Main Publicly-available Sources of Toxicity Data concerning REACH-relevant Chemicals Published in the Russian Language

Abstract

A new open-access online database, E-SovTox, is presented. E-SovTox provides toxicological data for substances relevant to the EU Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) system, from publicly-available Russian language data sources. The database contains information selected mainly from scientific journals published during the Soviet Union era. The main information source for this database — the journal, Gigiena Truda i Professional'nye Zabolevania [Industrial Hygiene and Occupational Diseases], published between 1957 and 1992 — features acute, but also chronic, toxicity data for numerous industrial chemicals, e.g. for rats, mice, guinea-pigs and rabbits. The main goal of the above-mentioned toxicity studies was to derive the maximum allowable concentration limits for industrial chemicals in the occupational health settings of the former Soviet Union. Thus, articles featured in the database include mostly data on LD50 values, skin and eye irritation, skin sensitisation and cumulative properties. Currently, the E-SovTox database contains toxicity data selected from more than 500 papers covering more than 600 chemicals. The user is provided with the main toxicity information, as well as abstracts of these papers in Russian and in English (given as provided in the original publication). The search engine allows cross-searching of the database by the name or CAS number of the compound, and the author of the paper. The E-SovTox database can be used as a decision-support tool by researchers and regulators for the hazard assessment of chemical substances.