OEKOpro: the first interactive chemical database on the Internet

Do you want to know which substances are contained in colors and varnishes, printed products, batteries, tires, textiles, rubber products or photo developers? Are you keen to know which chemicals are used in metal processing or are you interested in chemical and physical data or toxicological and ecological facts? OEKOpro is your solution. OEKOpro is the first interactive chemical database on the Internet!

Are you intrigued why a substance is used in a product and whether there are alternatives which improve the safety at work or have less impact on the environment? OEKOpro contains useful information about 7,000 chemical substances. It is free of charge and you have an unlimited access to OEKOpro.

Are you interested in looking at an animated structural formula in 3D and printing out a datasheet with all relevant information? (requires Java)

OEKOpro can do all this. And you can expect a lot more from OEKOpro! And the best for you: It is free of charge!

OEKOpro is one of the first independent databases on the internet. OEKOpro was initiated in 1984 by a research project funded by the German Federal Environmental Agency (Umweltbundesamt). OEKOpro has been online since 1986.

OEKOpro is a completely independent database. It has been constantly updated with data provided by research projects. The data acquisition was mostly funded by the Federal Environmental Agency (Umweltbundesamt). Other donors were the EU Commission; companies which are interested in detailed information of certain chemicals and public authorities. On behalf of them we have collected sector specific data. The programming was financed by the Institute of Environmental Research (INFU). Thus far the updating has been carried out by fulltime members of the OEKOpro team.
Overall, OEKOpro is much more than a common chemical database where one can, for example, find chemical and physical facts (molar mass, boiling- and melting point,...). OEKOpro is worldwide the only database with substance-specific information regarding the function of substances in various processes and ranges of applications. You can find here - and only here - information about, for example, substance X, which is used in one industry as a pH-regulator, in another as a coagulating agent and in a third one as a recycling additive.
OEKOpro is based on a worldwide literature research with hundreds of sources, including an international patent search for new or possible, but yet not fully realized, ranges of application.
Finally all the data selected have been presented to industry. According to a process agreed upon industry, various users and public authorities have contributed complementary information and comments concerning the conclusions drawn and the literature cited. In the rare cases where agreement cannot be reached all points of view are reported so that the user is able to form a view on it.

Data is currently available for the following industrial sectors:

• Batteries
• Printing products
• Colours and lacquers
• Photochemicals
• Rubber and technical polymers
• Metal finishing
• Paper chemicals
• Textile chemicals

Funding

The German Federal Environmental Agency (Umweltbundesamt), the EU-Commission, industrial companies

Contact

Dr.-Ing. Werner Baumann
W.Baumann@infu.uni-dortmund.de
Phone: +49-(0)231-755-4095

Paper

1. Baumann, W.; Konarski, S.; Warzecha, O. B. (2003):
   "Von pius-info.de direkt zu OEKOPRO", Sonderabfall-Management-Gesellschaft Rheinland-Pfalz SAM Aktuell, 3.Jahrgang Nr. 3/2003, 4.