7.1 Browsing Chemical Functions

How do I browse the available Function Categories (FCs) and their data?

ChemExpo includes functional use data, as described in Chapter 3, organized by harmonized Function Categories (FCs). Users can browse the available FCs via the Function Categories Summary page, available via the ‘Browse available Function Categories’ link on the homepage. The FC table on the Summary page can be searched and filtered using the search bar above the table. The table can also be sorted and filtered on each column, by clicking on any table column and entering in a filter query. The table displays a count of the number of products and number of documents associated with a given functional category. Users can also click the blue ‘View Detail’ button to access the Function Category Detail page for a function of interest.

The Function Category Detail page (Figure 7.1) displays additional information related to a specific FC, including the description and additional statistics on available data. On the detail page users can also view available data for Products, Documents, and Chemicals related to the FC. These data are accessed via the three labeled tabs in the center of the page, each of which accesses a corresponding data table. Both composition documents and functional use documents can be associated with an FC. The Data Document pages, which hold the raw and curated chemical and function data, can be accessed in the Document table. The details of the tabs and data tables are described in Table A.3. The Products and Chemicals tabs for FCs are described in more detail in Section 7.2 and Section 7.3.

7.2 Chemical Data for a Functional Category

How do I find information about specific chemicals associated with a given Function Category (FC)?

Users can find information about specific chemicals associated a Function Category (FC) via the FC Detail page. The FC Detail page is accessed via the FC Summary page, as described in the section above (or via search results on the Function Category tab).

The Chemicals table on the FC Detail page (accessed via the “Chemicals” Tab in the center of the page) contains a list of chemicals associated with the FC. The DTXSID column allows users to access the Chemical Detail page for more information on the specific chemical.

7.3 Product Data for a Functional Category

How do I find information about specific products associated with a given Function Category (FC)?

Users can find information about specific products that contain a chemical with a specific Function Category (FC) via the FC Detail page. The FC Detail page is accessed via the FC Summary page, as described in the section above (or via search results on the Function Category tab).

The Products table on the FC Detail page (accessed via the “Products” Tab in the center of the page) contains a list of products containing a chemical associated with the FC. Users can click on individual product entries to access more information about specific products on the Product page or their associated documents or PUCs. Usually, there is a one-to-one relationship between a document and product but in some cases multiple products are defined in a single data document. Note that the Classification Method column indicates the manual or automatic method by which the product has been assigned to the listed PUC.

7.4 Interpreting FCs

How should I interpret the assignment of manufacturer-reported functional uses to Function Categories (FCs) in OECD?

Chemicals with manufacturer-reported functional uses are manually curated to FCs. Curators assign the text of a reported function to a harmonized category, so that every instance of a reported function is mapped to the same harmonized category. i.e., every instance of ‘viscosity controlling agent’ is mapped to the OECD function ‘viscosity modifier’. This removes any spelling or punctuation errors in the original reported text and allows for consistency in terminology across the application.