science in ACTION

INNOVATIVE RESEARCH FOR A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE

&EPA

www.epa.gov/research

ERA'S HERO
DATABASE

Background

EPA's Office of Research and
Development created the Health
and Environmental Research
Online (HERO) database to
facilitate complete, sustainable,
transparent and efficient scientific
assessment development. The
database includes more than
2,500,000 scientific articles from
the peer-reviewed literature and
state of the art information
management tools to support
evaluation and use of scientific
information by EPA. HERO
provides the scientific foundation
for Integrated Science
Assessments (ISA), Integrated
Risk Information System (IRIS)
assessments, and other science
assessments such as the
Provisional Peer Reviewed
Toxicity Values (PPRTV). These
assessments support critical air,
water, land and Superfund
decision-making to protect
human health and the
environment.

HERO is an evergreen database.
This means that new studies are
continuously added so scientists
can keep abreast of new research.
References are then sorted,
classified and made available
through HERO.

Features of HERO

Database: At its heart, HERO
consists of an ever-expanding
database of scientific literature
used to develop EPA's risk
assessments aimed at
understanding the health and
environmental effects of
pollutants and chemicals.

Literature Search: A systematic,
sustainable set of procedures and
tools to facilitate advanced
literature searching, screening
and data classification using
natural language and cutting-edge
tools are used to mine the vast
body of research.

Data Mining: HERO employs
innovative, efficient technologies
for intelligent information
extraction, retrieval and
synthesis.

Transparency: Assessments are
published with hyperlinks in the
text to allow stakeholders to view
more information than a
traditional reference list. Public
participation via a public access
website provides transparency to
the science behind EPA's
decision-making processes used
for protecting human health the
environment.

Agility: Tools and processes are
created and linked to meet the
evolving needs of scientists,
collaborators and stakeholders.

Continuous Updating: As new

literature is published, studies are
added and metadata applied
automatically so scientists can
keep abreast of new research in
their fields.

Scientific Integrity: Scientific
integrity depends on
independence, accountability,
innovation and transparency.
HERO advances those values
through systematic,
comprehensive search and
screening techniques, and public
and stakeholder participation in
the identification of key research.

HERO is part of the open
government directive to conduct
business with transparency,
participation, and collaboration.
Every American has the right to
know the studies underlying
EPA's regulatory process.
Through HERO, the public can
participate in the decision-making
process.

Contact

Steve Dutton, (919) 541-5035
Dutton. Steyciu/cpa.uov

1

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Office of Research and Development

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