REGISTRY OF TOXIC EFFECTS OF CHEMICAL SUBSTANCES (RTECS®) COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE TO THE RTECS® DORIS V. SWEET EDITOR U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Public Health Service Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Cincinnati, Ohio 45226 July 1997 ACKNOWLEDGMENT The invaluable assistance of Barbara C. Cromer, Ann Votaw and Mitsuko Estese in producing the camera-ready copy of this publication is gratefully acknowledged. DHHS (NIOSH) PUBLICATION NO. 97-119 ii PREFACE This is the first revision of the Comprehensive Guide, originally published in 1993. A guide to RTECS® had been a part of each printed and each microfiche edition of the Registry. In 1993, we recognized the need to provide to the users of the several electronic formats of RTECS® the information such as the Detailed File Description, tables, codes, abbreviations, and tape layout. This volume is provided as a service to our users in making such information readily available. The last printed edition of RTECS®, the 1985-86 edition, is now out of print and there are no plans for future printed editions. Production of the microfiche edition ceased in July 1993. However, the Registry is maintained and updated electronically each quarter by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). The July 1997 update marked the twenty-sixth annual update prepared in accordance with the requirements of Section 20(a)(6) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (Public Law 91-596). The original list, then known as the Toxic Substances List, was completed on June 28, 1971, and contained approximately 4,000 substances. As of July 1997, RTECS® contained 139,704 chemical entries. Since the first edition, the database has expanded to include primary skin and eye irritation, mutagenic effects, reproductive effects, tumorigenic effects, acute toxicity, and other multiple dose toxicity data. From its inception, the policy of NIOSH has been to record the lowest dose or lowest exposure concentration reported to cause the tabulated effect. It has also been the policy of NIOSH not to evaluate the data, but to tabulate the values reported. The logic for this is twofold: (1) while most references are drawn from a core list of about 150 technical journals, sources of data also include abstracts, textbooks, government reports, compendia, proceedings of scientific meetings, symposia, industry reports and letters, professional society reports, reports by research institutions, personal communications, and publications from a large number of non-English language journals (most recently patent literature from the United States and other countries has proved to be a rich source of new data); (2) the resources available to the RTECS® program do not allow the time and effort required to perform an evaluation of the vast amount of data that has been accumulated and reported. It was decided that the offering of data from a broad spectrum of sources not generally accessible was of major value to the database users. iii RTECS® EDITORIAL REVIEW BOARD The RTECS® Editorial Review Board was established to serve as a source of advice and technical review for the RTECS® data file. The Board consists of representatives from various NIOSH Divisions and from other Agencies that have a direct interest in the RTECS® program. The Board meets periodically to resolve questions of policy and to review current and projected RTECS® operations. Paul A. Schulte, Ph.D., Director Tong Man Ong, Ph.D., Genetic Toxicologist Education and Information Division Health Effects Laboratory Division NIOSH NIOSH Andrea H. Okun, Ph.D. Deputy Director John Palassis, Chemist Education and Information Division Training and Educational Systems Branch NIOSH Education and Information division NIOSH ® Doris V. Sweet, Editor, RTECS Ann Hubbs, Ph. D. Education and Information Division Pathology and Physiology Research Branch NIOSH Health Effects Laboratory Division NIOSH Vernon P. Anderson.Ph.D., Chief David H. Pedersen, Ph.D. Information Resources Branch Surveillance Branch, Hazard Section Education and Information Division Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations and Field Studies NIOSH NIOSH Rodger L. Tatken Richard Zeutenhorst, Associate Director Information Resources Branch Office of Standards, Regulations, and Variances Education and Information Division Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) NIOSH Rolland R. Rogers Allan D. Susten, Ph.D., Chief Information Resources Branch Technical Support Section Education and Information Division Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) NIOSH Laura A. Delaney Jeanne C. Goshorn, Chief Information Resources Branch Biological Information Section Education and Information Division Specialized Information Services NIOSH National Library of Medicine (NLM) Alexander W. Teass, Ph.D., Chief Vera W. Hudson, Biologist Analytical Toxicology Section, ABB Specialized Information Services Division of Biomedical and Behavioral Sciences National Library of Medicine (NLM) NIOSH Mary Ellen Cassinelli, Associate Editor Shirley Marshall, Chief NIOSH Manual of Analytical Methods (NMAM) Technical Data Center Division of Physical Sciences and Engineering Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) NIOSH Daniel M. Lewis, Ph.D., Chief Vivian K. Morgan Immunology Section, LIB Education amd Inforamtion Division Division of Respiratory Disease Studies NIOSH NIOSH iv TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ................................................................ 1 Recent Changes ................................................................ 1 RTECS® Data Selection, Evaluation, and Use ........................................ 3 General Comments ............................................................. 4 DETAILED FILE DESCRIPTION .................................................. 5 Selection ..................................................................... 5 Format ...................................................................... 5 1. Substance Prime Name ..................................................... 6 2. Update ................................................................. 6 3. Chemical Abstracts Service Registry Number .................................... 6 4. RTECS® Number ......................................................... 7 5. Molecular Weight ......................................................... 7 6. Molecular Formula ....................................................... 7 7. Wiswesser Line Notation ................................................... 7 8. Synonyms .............................................................. 7 9. Compound Descriptor Codes ................................................ 8 10. Skin and Eye Irritation Data ............................................... 10 11. Mutation Data .......................................................... 12 12. Reproductive Effects Data ................................................. 16 13. Tumorigenic Data ....................................................... 18 14. Acute Toxicity Data ..................................................... 20 15. Other Multiple Dose Toxicity Data .......................................... 23 16. Cited References ........................................................ 24 17. Reviews .............................................................. 25 18. Standards and Regulations ................................................. 28 19. NIOSH Standards Development and Surveillance Data ........................... 34 20. Status ................................................................ 37 RTECS® ON-LINE .............................................................. 42 RTECS® ON CD-ROM ........................................................... 46 RTECS® COMPUTER TAPE ...................................................... 48 1. RTECS® Master File ..................................................... 48 2. RTECS® CODEN Master File .............................................. 50 TABLES ........................................................................ I. RTECS® Abbreviations ....................................................... 52 II. Toxic Effects Code .......................................................... 54 III. Reproductive Effects Code .................................................... 67 IV. Routes of Administration ..................................................... 69 V. Species ................................................................... 70 VI. Master File Data Types ....................................................... 71 VII. Line Numbers .............................................................. 72 v TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued) FIGURES ........................................................................ 1. RTECS® record for 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene as it appears on the National Library of Medicine/Toxnet System ................................... 73 2. RTECS® record for 2,4-D as it appears on the National Library of Medicine/Toxnet System .......................................... 78 3. RTECS® record for 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene as it appears on Dialog (expanded format) ................................................. 89 4. RTECS® record for 2,4-D as it appears on DIALOG (expanded format) .................. 93 5. RTECS® record for 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene as it appears on CAS/STN .................... 101 6. RTECS® record for 2,4-D as it appears on CAS/STN ............................... 105 7. RTECS® record for 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene