Ecotoxicology (ECOTOX) Knowledgebase Resource Hub
Overview
The Ecotoxicology (ECOTOX) Knowledgebase is a comprehensive, publicly available application that provides information on adverse effects of single chemical stressors to ecologically relevant aquatic and terrestrial species. Data are curated from scientific literature after an exhaustive search protocol. Compiled from over 53,000 references, ECOTOX currently includes over one million test records covering more than 13,000 aquatic and terrestrial species and 12,000 chemicals.
The primary source of ECOTOX data is peer-reviewed literature, with test results identified through comprehensive searches of the open literature. All pertinent information on the species, chemical, test methods, and results presented by the authors are abstracted into the ECOTOX Knowledgebase. ECOTOX includes links to all user support documents, frequently asked questions, and other ecotoxicology tools available on the web. The Knowledgebase is updated quarterly with new data and features. Learn more about ECOTOX.
Why ECOTOX?
For more than 20 years, ECOTOX has been used as a rapid source for toxicity data to develop chemical benchmarks for water and sediment quality assessments. ECOTOX data is used to help design aquatic life criteria to protect both freshwater and saltwater organisms from short-term and long-term exposure. It is also used to inform ecological risk assessments for chemical registration and reregistration. Additionally, the data is used to aid in the prioritization and assessment of chemicals under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).
ECOTOX is used to develop and validate models to extrapolate data from in vitro (cell-based) to in vivo (whole organism) effects and across species to evaluate the safety of chemicals. The Knowledgebase is useful for building quantitative structure activity relationship (QSAR) models to predict toxicity based on physical characteristics of a chemical’s structure, as well as to conduct data gap and meta-analyses to support current or guide future research and assessment needs.
Who can use ECOTOX?
Researchers: Each year, more reliance is placed on published test data and data compilations, and less on direct animal testing. The comprehensive nature of the Knowledgebase allows for efficient data mining while reducing the need for animal tests.
Risk assessors: The collection of data in ECOTOX is uniquely suited for linking traditional biological effects used in regulatory risk assessments with mechanistic responses at multiple levels of biological organization and across species.
Decision makers: Local, State, and Tribal governments can use data to develop site-specific criteria or interpret findings from monitoring data for chemicals without established criteria.
ECOTOX Functionality
Access ECOTOX:
SEARCH feature: The SEARCH feature in the Knowledgebase can be used to select and search for data on a specific chemical (with a link to the CompTox Chemicals Dashboard to give you more information about your chemical) or Species, Effect, or Endpoint of interest to find information in the ECOTOX Knowledgebase. Refine and filter data searches by 19 parameters and customize output selections from over 100 data fields.
EXPLORE feature: The EXPLORE feature in the Knowledgebase can be used when the exact parameters for a search are not known. You can search by Chemical, Species, or Effects. Additional data fields allow you to customize your output results for import into other tools.
DATA VISUALIZATION feature: The DATA VISUALIZATION features in the Knowledgebase can be used to view your results while exploring data. Data plots are interactive. Features allow you to hover over data points and scroll to zoom in on specific sections of data to retrieve the information of interest.
ECOTOX Help and Training
For technical assistance, please contact ECOTOX Support ([email protected]).
New Approach Methods (NAMs) Training Program
The NAMs Training Program Catalog assists users with EPA NAMs tools and houses training resources such as videos and worksheets.
ECOTOX Knowledgebase Training: May 2022