Chapter 2: Where to find the information

• Publications
• Resource Persons
• Electronic Tools
• Internet Searches

There are many sources of NPRI data. This document deals with the following:

• publications;
• resource persons;
• electronic tools.

Sometimes, at the request of an organization or in the context of a special event, a region may issue a fact sheet for a specific area or industry. You can find out about and order existing fact sheets from regional NPRI offices, or you can download those versions that are print-ready from the national NPRI web site.

You can also contact members of the national NPRI team at one of 11 regional offices coast to coast. They will be able to help you find the tools that best meet your needs and show you how to use them. If you are looking for highly specific information, they can assist you in your research.

Environment Canada, National Pollutant Release Inventory

The most practical tool for finding information on NPRI is the national NPRI web site.

This site contains a wealth of information on the program and many documents that can be downloaded; it also allows for on-line searches. CD-Rom with the data There is a CD-Rom containing all NPRI databases, from 1994 to 1998. This CD-Rom can be obtained by contacting one of the regional offices. The database The national NPRI web site contains all information compiled for the inventory, ready for review or downloading from the database. All raw data is stored in .dbf format; you will need software such as Access or dBase and some knowledge of how to use databases to get the results you want. Regional sites Some regions have developed web sites to complement the national site; there you can find information specific to that region.

Once on the web site, you can query the database for specific information. The following example shows how an on-line search works and will help you execute your own searches. Select the search criteria Enter the name of the substance and of the province chosen (this limits the search and so speeds up the process):

Click on the "Search" button and you will see, for instance, a list of all the facilities in Quebec reporting methanol use:

In-depth Internet searches: two options At this stage, you have two options: you can either click on one of the facilities listed for more detailed information (option 1), or you can opt for an in-depth search on the substance itself (option 2). Option 1 For each facility, this is the screen you will see:

Other information on the facility: For any given facility, you can also find the following data:

• graphs showing releases of each substance;
• detailed information on the facility: addresses, contacts, etc.;
• multi-year reviews showing release trends;
• maps showing where facilities are located.

Information on pollutants released by a facility

If you click on one of the substance names reported by the facility, this is what you will see:

From this window, you can click on links to obtain either physical and chemical or toxicological data on the substance you have selected. These links take you to another Internet site where technical information on most known chemical substances, including those listed by NPRI, is stored.

Option 2

If you are mainly interested in information on a particular substance, you should take a slightly different approach: when you reach the screen below, click on CAS number for the information sought.

Clicking on this number takes you to the Internet site where technical data on most known chemical substances are compiled (www.chemfinder.com). This is the information you would obtain on methanol:

The site also has many links to other sites dealing with the same substance but from different perspectives.