The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently launched a new online database that provides access to the scientific studies used in making key regulatory decisions. The EPA released the Health and Environmental Research Online (HERO) database on March 24. According to the agency, this action "is part of the [Obama administration's] open government directive to conduct business with transparency, participation, and collaboration."

In a press statement, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson asserted, "The HERO database strengthens our science and our transparency – two pillars of our work at EPA … Americans have a right to know the background of decisions that affect their lives and livelihoods. We're taking a big step forward in opening government to the people."

The HERO database, containing more than 300,000 scientific articles, is free, searchable, and open to the public. The database is intended to open the doors on the science EPA uses to create regulations impacting environmental and public health. HERO includes information on the key studies EPA uses to develop environmental risk assessments. EPA uses risk assessments to characterize the nature and magnitude of health risks to humans and the ecosystem from pollutants and chemicals in the environment.

By improving access to this research, the agency is helping the public to analyze and understand the same information being used by agency scientists. New studies will be regularly added to the database, and the agency is accepting suggestions from the public on additional scientific studies that should be included.

Searches in the HERO database may be conducted using keywords or by searching by author or publication title, among other parameters. Users may also narrow their searches to particular topics, such as environmental effects and health effects, or by particular substances such as mercury or asbestos. Each document in the database is assigned a HERO identification number with which users may search as well. Overall, the website appears to provide a comprehensive method for the public to sort through the thousands of scientific research documents used by EPA personnel.

A search conducted in the HERO database provides the title, authors, date, abstract, and other information about a scientific article. Where available, there is a link to the journal or publisher's website for access to the article itself. Not all publishers provide free access to entire articles, so some users may encounter an economic barrier to accessing the information. The HERO database is currently limited, typically, to abstracts, without the ability to see full articles or raw data that would allow users to analyze article content. However, this summer, the agency plans to expand the analytic capacity of the system by adding a feature highlighting objective, quantitative data extracted from high-profile studies.

According to the director of EPA's National Center for Environmental Assessment, John Vandenberg, the database is already heavily used in-house by agency staff as they assess the potential ecological and public health threats of numerous substances. Although the majority of the HERO documents are highly technical research articles that would be most valuable to trained scientists, there is abundant information useful for non-scientists, as well. One search provided links to several informational EPA web pages, a link to the Environmental Working Group's 2009 sunscreen guide, and numerous science articles from publications for a general audience.

The EPA's poor use of scientific data was heavily criticized during the George W. Bush administration. Numerous instances of political manipulation and suppression of science eroded public confidence in the integrity of the agency's actions. The Bush administration was also criticized for closing several publicly accessible EPA libraries and failing to account for many of the documents that were removed. The scientific articles in HERO are the same types of documents that generally have been available in EPA libraries around the country.

The new online HERO database is a strong step toward rebuilding collaboration with the public, ensuring the agency acts in a scientifically sound manner, and continuing EPA's momentum on transparency and science. Several additional steps by the Obama administration would take EPA – and other agencies – even further down the road toward improved scientific integrity.

For example, following through on President Obama's memo calling for recommendations to guarantee scientific integrity and establishing a written policy on how agency scientists may communicate with the media, the public, and other scientists would greatly strengthen the free exchange of scientific ideas.

The EPA plans to broaden both the features and scope of information included in HERO. According to the HERO website, agency scientists will link all scientific references used in their assessments to the HERO database. Future improvements could include additional data sets, environmental models, and services that connect data and models. The agency is seeking input from the public on ideas for improving HERO.