[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 192 (Wednesday, October 3, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50429-50430]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-24718]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-7072-6]
Peer Consultation Workshop on Alternative Approaches to the
Health Assessment of PAH Mixtures
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.
ACTION: Notice of peer consultation workshop.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing a
workshop for scientific peer consultation on alternative approaches to
the health risk assessment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH)
mixtures. The workshop is sponsored by EPA's National Center for
Environmental Assessment of the Office of Research and Development.
Versar, Inc., an EPA contractor, is providing logistical support for
the workshop. The individual scientific opinions of the experts
participating in the workshop will be taken into consideration by EPA
when developing the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) health
assessment for PAH mixtures.
DATES: The workshop will be held on Wednesday, October 24, 2001, from
8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Thursday, October 25, 2001, from 8:30 a.m.
to 3:30 p.m.
ADDRESSES: The workshop will be held at the Key Bridge Marriott, 1401
Lee Highway, Arlington, VA. Versar, Inc., an EPA contractor, is
providing logistical support for the workshop. To attend the workshop
as an observer, visit www.versar.com/pahrisk/ and register by October
19, 2001. Space is limited, and reservations will be accepted on a
first-come, first-served basis. There will be a limited time for
comments from the public during the workshop. Please let Versar know if
you wish to make a brief statement not to exceed five minutes.
EPA has prepared a discussion document, ``Workshop on Approaches to
Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH) Health Assessment: Discussion
Document,'' to provide experts participating in the workshop background
information on current EPA practices for assessing PAH health risk and
an overview of alternative approaches to health assessment for PAH
mixtures. A copy of this document is available from Versar.
Comments related to PAH health assessment approaches may be mailed
to Susan Rieth, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (8601D), 1200
Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460 or delivered to Susan
Rieth, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 808 17th St, NW.,
Washington, DC 20006. Electronic comments may be emailed to
[email protected].
Please note that all comments received in response to this notice
will be public information. For that reason, commentors should not
submit personal information (such as medical data or home address),
Confidential Business Information, or information protected by
copyright. Due to limited resources, acknowledgments will not be sent.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information concerning the
peer consultation workshop please contact Traci Bludis, Versar, Inc.;
telephone: 1-800-2-VERSAR ext 449; email: [email protected]. For
technical inquiries, please contact Susan Rieth,
[[Page 50430]]
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (8601D), 1200 Pennsylvania Ave.,
NW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone 202-564-1532; facsimile 202-565-
0075; email [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: At the request of several EPA program
offices, the EPA IRIS Program is undertaking a health assessment for
PAHs. The IRIS Program develops EPA consensus scientific positions on
potential human health effects that may result from chronic exposure to
chemical substances found in the environment; assessments for
approximately 540 chemical substances can be found in the IRIS database
(66 FR 11165).
Currently, the IRIS database contains entries developed in the
early 1990s for 15 non-methylated PAHs with three or more rings. These
entries provide assessments of the carcinogenic and noncarcinogenic
effects of individual PAHs; however, the IRIS database does not provide
assessments for other PAHs with carcinogenic potential (e.g.,
``supercarcinogens,'' methylated PAHs, etc.), and does not consider
issues associated with the environmental occurrence of PAHs as complex
mixtures.
The initiation of the IRIS PAH assessment follows closely on the
release of the EPA Risk Assessment Forum's Supplementary Guidance for
Conducting Health Risk Assessment of Chemical Mixtures (EPA/630/R-00/
002), which sets forth EPA's risk assessment paradigm for mixtures. The
framework for chemical mixture assessment provided in the supplemental
guidance will be applied in the current IRIS effort.
Because of the complexity of the scientific literature related to
PAH mixtures, the EPA is sponsoring a two-day peer consultation
workshop with experts in PAH toxicology and chemistry and the
assessment of chemical mixtures to examine alternative approaches to
the health assessment of PAH mixtures. Because information needed to
support development of a mixtures approach for assessing the noncancer
effects of PAHs is limited or lacking, it is expected that the workshop
will largely focus on the extensive carcinogenicity literature for
PAHs.
Objectives of the workshop will be to generate individual
scientific opinions on (1) the extent to which each of the alternative
approaches to PAH health assessment is supported by the current
scientific literature and (2) how well each approach addresses the
range of exposure situations and monitoring data encompassed by EPA
program offices. The individual expert opinions and recommendations
generated in this workshop will be taken into consideration by EPA in
developing an appropriate and scientifically defensible health
assessment procedure(s) for inclusion in the IRIS assessment for PAHs.
Dated: September 26, 2001.
Art Payne,
Acting Director, National Center for Environmental Assessment.
[FR Doc. 01-24718 Filed 10-2-01; 8:45 am]
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