In an article published on June 16, 2022, in the journal Nature Scientific Data, Kristin K. Isaacs from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and co-authors reported on the development, release, and usage of a harmonized chemical monitoring database.
Isaacs et al. outlined the applications and advantages provided by monitored chemical concentrations in environmental and biological media (e.g., drinking water, food, human beings, livestock). Such data helps to understand amounts and sources of exposure to exogenous chemicals and can be used to parametrize and evaluate predictive models, as well as inform “regulatory chemical assessment and decision-making.” The authors compiled the Multimedia Monitoring Database (MMDB), using public monitoring data from 20 sources, including public data repositories, data from existing government programs, and peer-reviewed literature databases (e.g. the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, FPF reported and here).
They extracted information on the chemical (names, identifier), the medium it was detected in, and the species. Furthermore, they curated, processed, and harmonized the data “into a sustainable machine-readable data format for support exposure assessments.” The database can help in developing geographic or temporal summaries of chemical concentration and exposure models, including machine-learning models.
Described limitations of the database include that it only contains results of targeted analytical studies and a mix of harmonized and raw chemical identifiers. The database is “currently released as a MySQL ‘dump’ file.” The MySQL is a database management system that is free and open source. The MMDB will be maintained under the EPA’s Chemical Safety for Sustainability Research Program and the agency plans to make it available via the EPA’s CompTox Chemicals Dashboard.
Reference
Isaacs, C. et al (2022). “A harmonized chemical monitoring database for support of exposure assessments.” Nature Scientific Data. DOI: 10.1038/s41597-022-01365-8
