A few changes are occurring at Environmental Research Foundation, publisher of RACHEL'S HAZARDOUS WASTE NEWS. For one thing, this week we begin mailing the News on Tuesday instead of Monday each week, so it will arrive one day later than it used to.

Much more importantly, Abigail Allen has joined our staff full-time, so if you phone us, you'll likely talk to Abbi. We welcome her to the staff.

Lastly, the Rachel database will soon have a new look. First, we will soon enter more than a thousand "chemical fact sheets" produced by the New Jersey Department of Health (NJDOH). These sheets give you a concise, reliable summary of the human health hazards of each chemical. NJDOH has generously donated this material to Rachel free. It represents several years of effort by health experts, who have extracted the best data from an enormous body of scientific literature and have boiled it down into fact sheets that are readable and useful.

Soon afterward, the database itself will take on a new look. The menus will change somewhat and there will be new, easier ways to search for information.

Lastly, 2400-baud modems will be added to speed up access for those who have these higher-speed devices. (The 1200 and 300 baud speeds will still work, just as in the past.)

To get free access to our Rachel computer from your computer (assuming you have a modem), write to us at P.O. Box 3541, Princeton, NJ 08543-3541; phone (609) 683-0707.