On December 24, 2019, The Hill reported that the National Library of Medicine (NLM) had shut down a database that tracked pollution in the U.S. (NLM is housed by the National Institute of Health, within the Department of Health and Human Services.)
In early December, links on the NLM website to TOXMAP – an interactive map that was accessible to the public and allowed users to track pollution-producing factories and other environmental concerns such as superfund cleanup sites – were disabled. The links now inform readers that the TOXNET website (which housed TOXMAP and also contained information about chemicals, household product safety, and other related topics) has been retired.
NLM had announced in September 2019 that TOXNET would be retired but that many of the resources would be still be available through other NLM databases or found on external websites. In the case of the TOXMAP database, most of the data it contained is now available on the EPA’s website, but researchers are concerned that the new format is not as simple and user-friendly as TOXMAP and makes it difficult for the public to navigate.