Web edition: September 20, 2007

Ever wonder whether some chemical in a bathroom cleanser, herbicidal spray, or paint is toxic? Just how poisonous is that chemical described in last week's Science News? Toxicologists are developing one-stop shopping for such information at Toxipedia. Like Wikipedia, it allows the public—experts, advocates, or policymakers—to post information. Unlike Wikipedia, there is a rating system for entries that range from 0, for blogs and other material of potentially dubious accuracy or balance, to 4, where the information is peer reviewed with plenty of citations to published scientific data. Still a work in progress, Toxipedia has some holes—chemicals that haven't yet been addressed as the site's designers look to recruit expert authors. The goal, explains Steven G. Gilbert of the Institute of Neurotoxicology and Neurological Disorders, in Seattle, is a site that makes toxicology—and chemical data—interesting and relevant to all.

Go to: http://www.toxipedia.org/