Background
Disclosing chemical ingredients in products provides essential information throughout the supply chain from raw material supplier to consumers. Infor­mation about the ingredients of products and their health effects allow con­sumers to make better informed choices.The development of this database was initiated in 1994 by DeLima Associates of McLean, Virginia, USA in response to a need for a database (identified by the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention), that related household product types, brand names, chemical constituents, health-related information (acute and chronic effects and target organs), and exposure minimization techniques. This database has been supported by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), U.S. Public Health Service, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.

Benefits to Consumers
This Consumer Product Information Database (cpid) that currently links over 26,000 consumer brands to health effects has been designed to educate consumers about chemical ingredients of household products and has the following benefits:

• Conscientious consumers might choose alternative brands, thus achieving an across-the-board use/risk reduction where potentially harmful chemicals are concerned.
• The number of accidental poisonings of individuals and the environment might be decreased. If a consumer knew, for example, that a product contained a carcinogen, he or she might be more likely to take protective actions, including precautions on the label, storing remaining materials in a safe manner and location, and disposing of the container and residue safely and in an environmentally appropriate manner.
• Sensitive or allergic consumers could avoid brands that contain an offensive chemical.

From comments received from these users, it appears that consumers use the database to:

• Identify the chemicals in products they currently use or plan to purchase.
• Determine the health effects of product formulations.
• Avoid brands with ingredients that they are sensitive to.
• View Safety Data Sheets
• Obtain contact information for manufacturers

Benefits to Other Stakeholders

In addition to the benefits to consumers, this database is useful to:

• Public Health Service and Other Government Agencies
  The mission of public health is to pro­mote physical and mental health and prevent disease, injury, and disability. While the original objective of this database was to provide consumers with a tool to find the chemical ingre­dients of products and their health effects this database is used by the National Institutes of Health, the Consumer Product Safety Commis­sion, the U.S. Environmental Protec­tion Agency and other State agencies for exposure research and for con­ducting risk assessments. The results of this research enableagencies to identify chemicals of high concern to consumers and the environment.The “Recalls” section of the database identifies specific products that have been recalled by these agencies and provides details regarding the rea­sons for the recalls.
• Physicians, Healthcare Providers and Hospital Emergency Rooms
  The database is a valuable resource that physicians use to identify the chemicals in products used by patients, determine the health effects of product ingredients, contact the manufacturer’s emergency health lineand access brand-specific First-Aid information (searchable from the Home Page).
• Manufacturers
  Manufacturers are supportive of this database because it provides product and health effects information for customers. In addition, workers in the supply chain have ready access to the full text of Safety Data Sheets that are closely linked to each of their products in this database thereby re­ducing the burden on manufacturers to supply (M)SDS to multiple users to comply with the communica­tion requirements of OSHA and State of California SB258, "Cleaning Product Right to Know Act of 2017."

The Consumer Product Information Database (cpid) contains health effects information for products used in the home and in some commercial/institutional settings that contain chemicals. The cpid is unique in that it will, for the first time, link brand names to health effects and allow consumers to select brands based on their individual sensitivity to specific chemical ingredients. The cpid website is designed to answer the following typical questions for consumers:

• Who manufactures a specific brand?
• How do I contact this manufacturer?
• What brand choices do I have for each type of product that I use at home?
• What are the chemical ingredients and their percentage in specific brands?
• What are the acute and chronic effects of chemical ingredients in a specific brand?
• Which organ systems can potentially be affected by exposure to chemical ingredients?
• Where can I get more information about the properties and toxicity of chemicals?
• Where can I find brands that have been recalled?
• Which Government agencies regulate specific types of products?

The cpid contains the following types of information:

• Label Information, including brand name, ingredients and warnings
• Manufacturer Information, including street address and contact telephone numbers
• Ingredients, Health Effects, Storage and Disposal Information from manufacturer’s material safety data sheets
• Properties and health studies for the chemical ingredients of brands

Brands in the cpid are selected based on market share within each of 10 product categories and shelf presence in retail stores such as drugstores, supermarkets, auto parts stores, building supply stores, pet stores and office supply stores. Product information in the cpid is from a variety of publicly available sources including labels on product containers, Safety Data Sheets provided by manufacturers and manufacturers' web sites.