Efficiency of 22 online databases in the search for physicochemical, toxicological and ecotoxicological information on chemicals.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of 22 free online databases that could be used for an exhaustive search of physicochemical, toxicological and/or ecotoxicological information about various chemicals. Twenty-two databases with free access on the Internet were referenced. We then selected 27 major physicochemical, toxicological and ecotoxicological criteria and 14 compounds belonging to seven different chemical classes which were used to interrogate all the databases. Two indices were successively calculated to evaluate the efficiency with taking or not taking account of their specialization. More than 50% of the 22 databases 'knew' all of the 14 chemicals, but the quantity of information provided is very different from one to the other and most are poorly documented. Two categories clearly appear with specialized and non-specialized databases. The HSDB database is the most efficient general database to be searched first, because it is well documented for most of the 27 criteria. However, some specialized databases (i.e. EXTOXNET, SOLVEDB, etc.) must be searched secondarily to find additional information.