An Oct. 7, 2013 news item on Nanowerk announces the launch of an open-access database for nanotoxicology materials,
The rise of potential health hazards has given rise to a new discipline — nanotoxicity — the study of toxicity as a result of nanomaterials. Work undertaken by the project ‘Nano health-environment commented database’ (NHECD) has culminated in a completely open-access database that incorporates a mechanism for updating the knowledge repository.
A major factor taken into account by NHECD was that the users come from many different groups including the press, research institutions and governmental bodies. Not only does the NHECD database hold unstructured data like scientific papers, it also allows for automatic updating. The database can thus hold a dynamic developing collection of published data on environmental and health effects after exposure to nanoparticles.
The NHECD database homepage offers more information about itself,
What is NHECD and what can be found here?
NHECD is a free access, robust and sustainable web based information system including a knowledge repository on the impact of nanoparticles on health, safety and the environment. It includes a robust content management system (CMS) as its backbone, to hold unstructured data (e.g., scientific papers and other relevant publications). …
Discover Our Intelligent Search
Our intelligent search is a unique method to target the information you need. This search feature is especially crafted for the needs of researchers in the nanoscience field. This feature includes among other capabilities the power to search by model, experiment and nanoparticles attributes. …
I did try a couple of searches ‘silver nanoparticles’ and ‘carbon nanotubes’ to no avail.
This project puts me in mind of the GoodNanoGuide, which has somewhat similar aspirations,
The mission of the GoodNanoGuide is to provide an Internet-based collaboration platform specially designed to enhance the ability of experts to exchange ideas on how best to handle nanomaterials in an occupational setting. It is meant to be an interactive forum that fills the need for up-to-date information about current good practices for managing nanomaterials in a work-related environment, highlighting new practices as they develop.
The goal of the GoodNanoGuide is to create a central repository for good practices for safely handling nanomaterials that can be used and contributed to by people from all over the world.
In fact, I noted this similarity in a July 13, 2009 posting titled: Good Nano Guide and the UK’s NHECD project complementary? plus the Finnish, the Canadians, nanotechnology and innovation. I don’t understand why the NHECD is being publicized at this point in time as the website does not seem to be fully populated (blank webpages) and as I noted I had difficulty running a search.