Priority Substances List Assessment Report for Chloroform

Appendix A Search Strategies Employed for Identification of Relevant Data

Environmental assessment

Data relevant to the assessment of the entry, environmental fate and exposure, and environmental effects of chloroform were identified in original literature, review documents, and commercial and government databases and indices, including on-line searches conducted between January and May 1996 of the following databases: ASFA (Aquatic Sciences and Fisheries Abstracts, Cambridge Scientific Abstracts; 1990-1996), BIOSIS (Biosciences Information Services; 1990-1996), CAB (Commonwealth Agriculture Bureaux; 1990-1996), CESARS (Chemical Evaluation Search and Retrieval System, Ontario Ministry of the Environment and Michigan Department of Natural Resources; 1996), CHRIS (Chemical Hazard Release Information System; up to 1985), Current Contents (Institute for Scientific Information; 1993 - January 15, 1996), ELIAS (Environmental Library Integrated Automated System, Environment Canada library; January 1996), Enviroline (R.R. Bowker Publishing Co.; November 1995 - June 1996), Environmental Abstracts (1975 - February 1996), Environmental Bibliography (Environmental Studies Institute, International Academy at Santa Barbara; 1990-1996), GEOREF (Geo Reference Information System, American Geological Institute; 1990-1996), HSDB (Hazardous Substances Data Bank, U.S. National Library of Medicine; 1996), Life Sciences (Cambridge Scientific Abstracts; 1990-1996), NTIS (National Technical Information Service, U.S. Department of Commerce; 1990-1996), Pollution Abstracts (Cambridge Scientific Abstracts, U.S. National Library of Medicine; 1990-1996), POLTOX (Cambridge Scientific Abstracts, U.S. National Library of Medicine; 1990-1995), RTECS (Registry of Toxic Effects of Chemical Substances, U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health; 1996), Toxline (U.S. National Library of Medicine; 1990-1996), TRI93 (Toxic Chemical Release Inventory, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Toxic Substances; 1993), USEPA-ASTER (Assessment Tools for the Evaluation of Risk; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; up to December 21, 1994); WASTEINFO (Waste Management Information Bureau of the American Energy Agency; 1973 - September 1995) and Water Resources Abstracts (U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Department of the Interior; 1990-1996).

A survey of Canadian industry was carried out under authority of Section 16 of CEPA, for which companies were required to supply information on uses, releases, environmental concentrations, effects or other data on chloroform available to them if they met the trigger quantity of 1000 kg chloroform per year (Environment Canada, 1997c). Reveal Alert was used to maintain an ongoing record of the current scientific literature pertaining to the potential environmental effects of chloroform. Data obtained after July 1999 were not considered in this assessment unless they were critical data received during the 60-day public review of the report (June 3 to August 2, 2000).

Human health assessment

To identify data relevant to the estimation of exposure of the general population to chloroform, literature searches were conducted, using the strategy of searching by the name (and major synonyms) and CAS registry number in the following databases: EMBASE (on-line version of Excerpta Medica, Elsevier Science Publishers), Environmental Bibliography (Environmental Studies Institute, Santa Barbara), Enviroline (R.R. Bowker Publishing Co.), NTIS (National Technical Information Service, U.S. Department of Commerce), Pollution Abstracts (Cambridge Scientific Abstracts), Waternet (American Water Works Association) and Water Resources Abstracts (Cambridge Scientific Abstracts).

To identify the toxicological data relevant to the assessment of chloroform, literature searches were conducted, using the strategy of searching by the name or CAS registry number in the following databases: CCRIS (Chemical Carcinogenesis Research Information System, U.S. National Cancer Institute), CESARS (Chemical Evaluation Search and Retrieval System, Ontario Ministry of the Environment and Michigan Department of Natural Resources), DART (Developmental and Reproductive Toxicology, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences), EMIC (Environmental Mutagen Information Center, Human Genome and Toxicology Program, Oak Ridge National Laboratory), GENE-TOX (Genetic Toxicology, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency), HSDB (Hazardous Substances Data Bank, U.S. National Library of Medicine), IRIS (Integrated Risk Information System, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency), RTECS (Registry of Toxic Effects of Chemical Substances, U.S. National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health) and Toxline Plus (U.S. National Library of Medicine).

Subsequent to these searches, data relevant to both environmental exposure and health effects were identified through an SDI (Selective Dissemination of Information) profile. Data obtained after October 1999 were not considered in this assessment.