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United States National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health

Fact Sheet
Tox Town

storybook image of small town

Tox Town (http://toxtown.nlm.nih.gov) is an interactive guide to commonly encountered toxic substances, your health, and the environment. It uses color, graphics, sounds and animation to convey connections between chemicals, the environment, and the public's health. Tox Town is designed to provide:

Tox Town helps users explore an ordinary town to identify its common environmental hazards. It can be toured by selecting "Location" or "Chemical" links. Locations, like the school, home and office building, urban setting can be opened for cutaway views and for detailed information about the toxic chemicals that might be found there, as well as for links to environmental health resources. A city scene is also available for exploration. Tox Town also offers some resources in Spanish (http://toxtown.nlm.nih.gov/espanol/).

Tox Town's target audience is students above elementary-school level, educators, and the general 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 and MedlinePlus® 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 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. NLM plans to expand Tox Town to include more chemicals and new locations, such as a farming region.

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

Last updated: 28 May 2004
First published: 08 July 2003
Metadata| Permanence level: Permanent: Stable Content