A Chemical Hazard Information Profile (CHIP) provides information on the toxicity level of a particular chemical substance. CHIPs provide information related to safe exposure limits, the specific health hazards associated with exposure, such as whether a substance is classified as a carcinogen by OSHA and the types of exposure associated with a particular hazard. CHIP profiles provide information on a substance from multiple governmental and non-governmental agencies, allowing users to compare toxicity information according to a variety of authoritative sources.
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administers CHIPs through the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) Program. The Toxics Release Inventory Program contains information on 595 individually listed chemicals, an additional 27 general chemical categories, and four fixed categories containing 68 specifically-listed chemicals, for a total of 690 reported substances.The TRI-CHIP database contains CHIPs for every substance in the Toxics Release Inventory.
The full list of TRI-CHIPs exists as a freely available database of chemical toxicity profiles which can be downloaded from the EPA website. CHIPs are listed in the database by CAS number, chemical name, or chemical category. Users can also search for CHIPs based on their associated health hazards and exposure limits. Substances listed by the TRI are grouped into four effects categories: cancer, non-cancer oral and inhalation, non-cancer oral, and non-cancer inhalation. Chemical profiles can be searched for based on the specific hazardous effects that a substance has on a particular bodily system (e.g. cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, metabolic).
Chemicals are listed in the TRI if they are associated with one of three adverse health effects. These are: Effects that cause cancer or other chronic human health effects, significant acute human health effects, or significant adverse environmental effects.
In addition to the information provided within the database, CHIPs act as a point-of-access for users to retrieve additional toxicology information that is associated with the sources referenced in each CHIP. Sources referenced in the CHIP database include the California Environmental Protection Agency (Cal/EPA), the National Toxicology Program’s 12th report on Carcinogens (NTP), the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), the EPA Office of Pesticide Programs Registration Documents (OPP), the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS), the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), and information compiled within the TRI itself.