HSDB Database Status
What happened to the HSDB database?
HSDB, the Hazardous Substances Data Bank, no longer exists as a standalone database. The National Library of Medicine (NLM) retired its TOXNET platform, which hosted HSDB, on December 16, 2019, and moved HSDB's content into PubChem (NLM Technical Bulletin, Nov–Dec 2019).
Approach: None of the regulatory datasets I can search cover this, so I used NLM's own announcement and the US federal data catalog entry for HSDB. PubChem's HSDB help page and the old TOXNET HSDB address could not be opened this time.
What happened
- TOXNET retired on December 16, 2019. NLM said most TOXNET content would "remain available through other NLM databases, as well as from external websites" (NLM Technical Bulletin).
- HSDB content now lives in PubChem. NLM's transition table points HSDB users to "HSDB in PubChem" and provides a user guide and video tutorial for working with it there (NLM Technical Bulletin).
- A frozen download exists. NLM offers a downloadable subset of "over 5,000 hazardous substance records." The catalog entry says this version "is no longer updated" and that "HSDB data has been incorporated into PubChem." The download comes with a data element guide and sample files. The catalog lists it as first published September 18, 2020 and last updated July 10, 2025 (Data.gov: HSDB).
- NLM also lists an archive dataset called "Hazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB) (2015 - 2019) - Archived Data" (NLM Data Discovery).
What HSDB covered: it was a toxicology database on potentially hazardous chemicals. It included human exposure, industrial hygiene, emergency handling, environmental fate and regulatory requirements, and its records were reviewed by a Scientific Review Panel (Data.gov: HSDB).
What this means in practice: old HSDB citations and TOXNET links no longer work. To look up current HSDB content, search for the substance in PubChem and open the HSDB-sourced sections. If you need a fixed snapshot, for example to back up a historical dossier reference, use NLM's archived download.
Where can I find HSDB records now?
HSDB records are now in PubChem. Each one has its own page at https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/source/hsdb/<HSDB SourceID> and is linked to the substance's PubChem compound (CID) page. I can also search the full set of HSDB records here, by substance name, HSDB number, PubChem CID or keyword in the record text.
Approach: I checked the HSDB legacy content held in PubChem (NLM). NLM's own transition notices were covered in my previous answer.
How to get to a record
- By HSDB number. Each record keeps its HSDB SourceID. For example, benzene is HSDB SourceID 35, at https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/source/hsdb/35 [1]. If you have an old TOXNET citation with an HSDB number, put that number at the end of the URL.
- By substance. Search the chemical in PubChem and open its compound page; the HSDB content appears there as a source. The benzene HSDB record links to PubChem CID 241 [1]. Two more examples:
- What's still in the records. The original record text and its references are kept, including the "PEER REVIEWED" labels. The benzene record, for instance, still has its aquatic toxicity entries citing Verschueren's Handbook of Environmental Data on Organic Chemicals (2001) [1].
For a fixed snapshot (for example, to back up a historical citation in a dossier), NLM offers two options:
- The frozen HSDB download of over 5,000 records, which is no longer updated (Data.gov: HSDB).
- The "HSDB (2015 - 2019) - Archived Data" set (NLM Data Discovery).
If you send me the substances or HSDB numbers you need, I can pull the relevant sections (toxicity, exposure limits, environmental fate, emergency handling) with citations.
Is TOXNET still available?
No. NLM retired TOXNET on December 16, 2019, and it is no longer available as a platform. Most of its databases were moved to other NLM resources or handed to outside organisations (NLM Technical Bulletin, Nov–Dec 2019).
Approach: None of the regulatory datasets I can search cover TOXNET's status, so I went back to NLM's own retirement and relocation notice.
Where the former TOXNET databases went, according to NLM's transition table (NLM Technical Bulletin):
| Former TOXNET database | Where it is now |
|---|---|
| HSDB | PubChem |
| CCRIS | PubChem |
| GENE-TOX | PubChem |
| ChemIDplus | PubChem only, from December 2022 |
| LactMed | NCBI Bookshelf |
| LiverTox | NCBI Bookshelf |
| TOXLINE | Download data only; the links for TOXLINE in PubMed were removed |
| IRIS | EPA |
| TRI | EPA |
| TOXMAP | EPA geospatial resources |
| CTD | NC State University |
| ITER | Toxicology Excellence for Risk Assessment (TERA) |
| Haz-Map | Haz-Map.com |
| Household Products | Consumer Product Information Database |
| DSID, DSLD | NIH Office of Dietary Supplements |
The notice doesn't say where DART or ALTBIB went.
In practice: any TOXNET URL in an old dossier, SDS or literature review is a dead link now. To fix one, find the database it pointed to in the table and cite the new location. For HSDB citations, the record number still works at PubChem's /source/hsdb/<number> address, as I covered earlier.