The introduction of the exposome concept emphasizes on the multiplicity, interaction and complexity of health risks. The exposome can be defined as the study of the impact of all potential stressors on human health (including chemical, biological, physical, psychological, social, etc.) from conception onwards (Dennis et al., 2017; Kim and Hong 2017; Siroux et al., 2016; Wild 2005, 2006). This concept, first formulated in 2005, was developed to highlight the need for better and more complete exposure data related to all life-stages for various populations (Siroux et al., 2016; Wild 2005).

Because chemicals are among the major environmental threats to human health, knowledge of hazards and exposure data about chemical pollutants (chemical exposome) are essential for assessing health risks and preventing the development of diseases. Risk assessment can be viewed as a four-step process including hazard identification, dose-response assessment, exposure assessment, and risk characterization (Persad and Bobst 2020). Since the REACH regulation, knowledge about hazards has increased, but there is still a scarcity of data pertaining to thousands of chemicals, in particular for chronic hazards, chemical mixtures and the condition of use of many chemicals (ECHA 2015; Wignall et al., 2018). Regarding exposure data, the knowledge is much more limited and highly variable. Some chemicals have been intensively monitored, such as asbestos, while others have been well characterized in various media (water, sediment, food) but poorly in humans. However, for most chemicals, there is a paucity of knowledge and even occasionally no data, with only a small fraction of the chemical exposome covered (Vineis et al., 2017; Wignall et al., 2018).

Technological advancement has led to evolving exposure environments/conditions and to a drastic increase in the health data generated and captured. To be used for research purposes, the generated data have to be collected, recorded, stored and properly handled (Gaudet et al., 2011; Zheng et al., 2017). A great diversity of databases (DBs) exists, whose nature and scope, as well as the degree of complexity vary immensely (Andreu-Perez et al., 2015; Frelinger 2015; Sowe and Zettsu 2014; Steckling et al., 2018; Zheng et al., 2017). The true challenge is to identify what data are truly relevant/useful and concentrate efforts on gathering it. Access to this type of information is clearly needed and although numerous DBs have been compiled, they are often extremely difficult to find and navigate. A concerted effort is needed to catalogue available toxicological and exposure DBs that can support human health risk assessment of the chemical exposome.

This paper attempts to catalogue relevant DBs that might benefit human health risk assessment resulting from the chemical exposome into an easily accessible format. This inventory could be a useful tool/resource for epidemiologist, risk assessors, risk managers, practitioners, industry practitioners, decision makers and sanitary agencies to obtain and find relevant information from available resources when conducting risk assessment to chemicals.