Fact Sheet
Tox Town
Tox Town (http://toxtown.nlm.nih.gov) is an interactive guide to commonly encountered toxic substances, your health, and the environment. Tox Town helps users explore a Port, Town, City, Farm, or US-Mexico Border community to identify common environmental hazards.
Each neighborhood is toured by selecting “Location” or “Chemical” links. For example, a user can click on the hospital in the City scene for a list of chemicals that might be found in a hospital and a list of resources about environmental concerns for hospital patients and staff. A user also can click on a chemical, like mercury, to see where it might be found in a neighborhood and to learn more about it. Cutaway views give an inside look at the school, a home, and other buildings for more detail.
Tox Town uses color, graphics, sounds, and animation to convey connections between chemicals, the environment, and the public's health. It is designed to provide:
- Facts on everyday locations where toxic chemicals might be found
- Information about how the environment can affect human health
- Non-technical descriptions of chemicals
- Links to authoritative chemical information on the Internet
- Internet resources on environmental health topics.
Tox Town is available en español (http://toxtown.nlm.nih.gov/espanol/).
Tox Town is recommended for high school and college students, educators, and the concerned public. It is a companion to the extensive information in the TOXNET® collection of databases that are typically used by toxicologists and health professionals.
Tox Town's chemical and environmental information comes from the TOXNET, MedlinePlus® and MedlinePlus en español® resources of the National Library of Medicine (NLM), and other authoritative sources. Chemical descriptions are based on TOXNET and other resources and are reviewed by NLM toxicology staff. Tox Town is accredited by the Health on the Net Foundation (HON).
Tox Town is a project of the Specialized Information Services Division of the NLM and is part of its mission to address the toxicology and environmental health information needs of the general public.
Further Information
For detailed information about Tox Town, contact:
Specialized Information Services
National Library of Medicine
Two Democracy Plaza, Suite 510
6707 Democracy Boulevard, MSC 5467
Bethesda, MD 20892-5467
Telephone: (301) 496-1131
e-mail: tehip@teh.nlm.nih.gov
URL: http://sis.nlm.nih.gov
For general information on the Library's computerized information services, including Tox Town, contact:
National Library of Medicine
Customer Service
8600 Rockville Pike
Bethesda, MD 20894
Telephone: 1-888-FINDNLM (1-888-346-3656)
e-mail: custserv@nlm.nih.gov
A complete list of NLM Fact Sheets is available at:
(alphabetical list) http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/factsheets/factsheets.html
(subject list): http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/factsheets/factsubj.html
Or write to:
FACT SHEETS
Office of Communications and Public Liaison
National Library of Medicine
8600 Rockville Pike
Bethesda, Maryland 20894
Phone: (301) 496-6308
Fax: (301) 496-4450
email: publicinfo@nlm.nih.gov
