what we do /

EFDB

In November 1979, SRC initiated the development of the Environmental Fate Data Base (EFDB) under the sponsorship of the EPA. This computerized database, developed and maintained at SRC under the direction of Dr. Philip Howard, serves the following purposes:
  • Allow rapid access to all available fate data on a given chemical without having to resort to expensive, time consuming, and inefficient primary literature searches
  • Identify critical gaps in the available information to facilitate planning of research needs
  • Provide a data source for constructing structure-activity correlations for degradability and transport of chemicals in the environment
The EFDB is a tremendous aid in identifying persistent chemical classes, as well as physical or chemical properties that may correlate to particular behavior in the environment. The EFDB is comprised of several interrelated files, including DATALOG, CHEMFATE, BIOLOG, and BIODEG. These databases share a CAS# file containing over 20,000 chemicals with a preferred name and formula, and a bibliographic file containing full references on over 36,000 articles cited. They are under constant expansion, and may be accessed on the EFDB webpage. Quarterly, snapshots of the databases are made available in a Microsoft Windows version and on this web site. The Windows version allows output to be printed or saved to a file, and allows searching using an ASCII file containing a list of CAS #'s. Download a demo of the Windows PC software. More information on the content, design, and development of the EFDB may be found in the following publications:
  • Howard PH, GW Sage, A Lamacchia, A Colb. 1982. The development of an environmental fate data base. J. Chem. Inf. Comput. Sci. 22:38-44.
  • Howard PH et al. 1986. BIOLOG, BIODEG, and FATE/EXPOS: New files on microbial degradation and toxicity as well as environmental fate/exposure of chemicals. Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 5:977-988.
  • Howard PH, AE Hueber, RS Boethling. 1987. Biodegradation data evaluation for structure/biodegradability relations. Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 6:1-10.
  • Rosenberg SA, AE Hueber, D Aronson, S Gouchie, PH Howard, W Meylan, JL Tunkel. 2003. SRC’s chemical information databases: extraction and compilation of data related to environmental fate and exposure. Science & Technol Libraries 23:73-87.