Article Databases

Note: All databases can be searched from home using a library PIN or Concordia's VPN.

Hazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB): a toxicology database

• Search for nanoparticles
• A list of both metal and carbon nanoparticles will be listed in the results
• Clicking on one of the listed nanoparticles will give a list of extracts of documents that look at, among other things, human health effects, animal toxicity studies, environmental fate, manufacturing information, etc.

PubMed: a biomedical database

• Try searching for keywords such as nanotoxicology. Alternatively, use the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) dictionary to get more relevant results:
  • Choose MeSH from the dropdown search menu (PubMed is the default)
  • Type in your substance or topic (for example: nanostructures) and hit Search
  • If desired, select subheadings
  • On the right hand side, click on the "Add to search builder" button
  • If you are done search the MeSH dictionary, click on the "Search PubMed" button.
• Try limiting to review articles in PubMed. In the right hand column of the results page, under Filter your results, click on Review.
• You can also limit by year, or language, etc., by clicking on the "Limits" link under the search box.
• When looking at an article abstract, click on the "Find it @ Concordia" button to see if Concordia Libraries subscribe to the journal where the article was published.

BIOSIS (general biology database) OR Web of Science (multidisciplinary database)

• Construct a search strategy using keywords and truncations. For example:
  • nanoparticle* AND toxic* AND environment*
• On the search results screen, on the left hand side, you can limit your search by year, author, document type, etc.
• When looking at an article abstract, click on the "Find it @ Concordia" button to see if Concordia Libraries subscribe to the journal where the article was published.

GreenFile: an environmental science database

• Construct a search strategy using keywords and truncations. For example:
  • nanoparticle* AND toxic* AND environment*
• On the search results screen, on the left hand side, you can limit your search by year, source type, subject, etc.
• When looking at an article abstract, click on the "Find it @ Concordia" button to see if Concordia Libraries subscribe to the journal where the article was published.

Government resources

Listed are a few government websites that contain some resources on nanotechnology or nanomaterials.

• Nano.gov:
  US Government National Nanotechnology Initiative. Click on the Publications tab to view reports or presentations published by different government agencies on many different nanotechnology topics.
• US Environmental Protection Agency:
  The EPA has a few resources on the topic of Nanotechnology Research.
• NEPIS:
  This is a search engine for publications produced by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Try searching for nanoparticles, or nanomaterials, or other similar topics.
• US Food and Drug Administration:
  The FDA has a few resources on the topic of Nanotechnology.
• Environment Canada:
  Environment Canada has a few resources on the topic of Nanomaterials.
• European Commission:
  The European Commission has an interesting section on Nanotechnology.

Books

CHEM 472 Reserve:

There are many useful books on reserve for this class at the circulation desk of the Library.

CLUES Keyword Search:

Alternatively, you can do a search in the CLUES catalogue. Here are some search suggestions:

• Search for the general topic of nanomaterials using the following keyword search:
  • (nanomaterial* OR nanostruct* OR nanoparticle*)
• Search for toxicology information relating to nanomaterials using the following keyword search:
  • (nanomaterial* OR nanostruct* OR nanoparticle*) AND (environment* OR toxic* OR health)

Suggested Readings

• The New Toxicology of Sophisticated Materials: Nanotoxicology and Beyond
• The ecotoxicology of nanoparticles and nanomaterials: current status, knowledge gaps, challenges, and future needs
• Manufactured nanoparticles: an overview of their chemistry, interactions and potential environmental implications
• Toxic potential of materials at the nanolevel
• Ecotoxicogenomics: the challenge of integrating genomics into aquatic and terrestrial ecotoxicology