United States
Environmental Protection
Agency

ECOTOX Knowledgebase Virtual Training

Breakout Group Worksheet
Case Study Level 1

This worksheet was developed for the Breakout Group session of the ECOTOX Knowledgebase Virtual
Training, hosted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Center for Computational Toxicology
and Exposure on May 17, 2022.

For more information about the ECOTOX Knowledgebase tool—

•	Visit the ECOTOX Knowledgebase at www.epa.gov/ecotox.

•	Contact ECOTOX support at ecotox.support@epa.gov or by calling 218-529-5225.

•	Read more in Olker et al. 2022, https://doi.org/10.10Q2/etc.5324.

To identify records available in ECOTOX for a specific chemical AND species group.

Directions

1.	Select a chemical from the list provided on Page 5 of this worksheet.

2.	Type the chemical and its CAS Registry Number in the space below.

[chemical]

[CAS Registry Number(s)]

3.	Because we are starting with a chemical and have no other parameters, should you start with
Search or Explore?

[note Search or Explore]

4.	Create a Custom Group for your chemical. Then refer to the list of Query Filters on the left-hand
side to walk through the next set of questions.

5.	How many Species Groups have records in ECOTOX for the selected compound(s)?

[note number]

6.	Refine the results by selecting a specific Species Group. Which group did you select?

[species group selected]

Goal

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United States
Environmental Protection
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7. Based on the Species Group you selected, limit the results to either "Aquatic" or "Terrestrial" at
the top of the left-hand side. Which one did you select?

[habitat selected]

8. Change the view as needed (i.e., Group Summary, Records, Plot View) to answer the following
questions:

a.	Change your results to Records view.

b.	What types of effects were observed in the Species Group you focused on?

[effects populated in ECOTOX]

c.	Change your results to Plot View.

d.	What were the lowest concentrations for which these effects were reported?

[concentration values reported in ECOTOX]

e. What paper or papers were these lowest concentrations reported in?

[paper title/citation from the Google Scholar link that opens in a new tab]

f. Write down the ECOREF number (identifier for the reference) by hovering over the
reference column.

[ECOREF number]

g.	Select Send Query Filters to Search at the top of the right-hand side. This will open Search in
a new tab. Be sure to click the green Update Search button on the bottom-left.

h.	Modify the Publications Options to limit the output to the reference identified above. How
many records are displayed?

[number of records available for your chemical and species group of reference]

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United States
Environmental Protection
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i. Use the Customize Output Fields feature to add fields to the output table (e.g., Control,
Gender, Experimental Design, and EE Comment). What did you choose?

[additional field used to further refine results]

j. Did the authors of the above paper(s) report what types of controls were used? If so, what
were the types of controls?

[yes/no; controls]

k. Were you able to find/access the publication to read/review the original results? Did you
encounter challenges or have questions about the results?

[yes/no; challenges or questions]

I. Expand the Publications Options to include all references that meet the search parameters
(no longer limiting results to the single identified reference). Now how many records are
displayed?

[number of records]

m. Export and save the results as an Excel file and filter them to show the records from the
reference with the lowest effect concentrations discussed in the previous steps.

n. Now, try to find the same list of papers by using the Search module. Begin by adding the
chemical name or CAS Registry Number and species group to the parameters on the left-

o. Did you find that Explore or Search was an easier starting point for your query? List one
example of why.

[one preference for using Explore or Search in this scenario]

hand side.

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United States
Environmental Protection
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Reflection

1. In what case example from your work environment would ECOTOX be useful?

2. What have you learned about the process and workflow used to find information and papers in
ECOTOX?

3. What challenges did you encounter, and how did you solve them?

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Environmental Protection
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Chemical List

Category

Compound(s)

CAS Registry Number(s)

Pesticide/Herbicide

Atrazine

1912-24-9

Pesticide/Herbicide

Roundup

38641-94-0

Pesticide/Herbicide

Chlorpyrifos

2921-88-2

Metal

Cadmium

7440-43-9, 10108-64-2, plus
11 others in the Cadmium group

Metal

Lead

7439-92-1, 7758-95-4, 301-04-2,
10099-74-8, plus 9 others in the
Lead group

Metal

Selenium

35 unique compounds in the
Selenium group

Pharmaceutical/Personal Care Product

17a-Ethinylestradiol

57-63-6

Pharmaceutical/Personal Care Product

Clofibrate/Clofibric Acid

637-07-0, 882-09-7

Pharmaceutical/Personal Care Product

DEET

134-62-3

Species Groups

Vertebrates

Invertebrates

Plants and Other

Fish

Insects/Spiders

Flowers, Trees, Shrubs, Ferns

Mammals

Worms

Algae

Birds

Molluscs

Fungi

Amphibian

Crustaceans

Moss, Hornworts

Reptiles

Other Invertebrates

Miscellaneous (Communities, Higher Taxonomic Level)

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