[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 66 (Wednesday, April 5, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17891-17893]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-8311]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Public Health Service


National Toxicology Program; Call for Public Comments on 9 
Substances Proposed for Listing in or Delisting from the Report on 
Carcinogens, Tenth Edition

Background

    The National Toxicology Program (NTP) solicits final public 
comments on additional agents, substances, mixtures and exposure 
circumstances for listing in or delisting from the Report on 
Carcinogens, Tenth Edition. This Report (previously known as the Annual 
Report on Carcinogens) is a Congressionally mandated listing of known 
human carcinogens and reasonably anticipated human carcinogens and its 
preparation is delegated to the National Toxicology Program by the 
Secretary, Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). Section 301 
(b) (4) of the Public Health Service Act, as amended, provides that the 
Secretary, (HHS), shall publish a biennial report which contains a list 
of all substances (1) which either are

[[Page 17892]]

known to be human carcinogens or may reasonably be anticipated to be 
human carcinogens; and (2) to which a significant number of persons 
residing in the United States (US) are exposed. The law also states 
that the reports should provide available information on the nature of 
exposures, the estimated number of persons exposed and the extent to 
which the implementation of Federal regulations decreases the risk to 
public health from exposure to these chemicals.
    In 1999 and early 2000, nine substances were reviewed for listing 
in the Tenth Report. This review included two Federal and one non-
government, scientific peer reviews and public comment and review. The 
three scientific review committees evaluated all available data 
relevant to the criteria for inclusion of candidate substances in the 
Report. The criteria used in the review process and the detailed 
description of the review procedures, including the steps in the 
current formal review process, can be obtained from the NTP Home Page 
web site at http://ntp-server.niehs.nih.gov/ or by contacting: Dr. C. 
W. Jameson, National Toxicology Program, Report on Carcinogens, 79 
Alexander Drive, Room 3217, P.O. Box 12233, Research Triangle Park, NC 
27709; phone: (919) 541-4096, fax: (919) 541-2242, email: 
[email protected].

Public Comment Requested

    The nominated substances reviewed in 1999 and early 2000 are 
provided in the following table with their Chemical Abstracts Services 
(CAS) Registry numbers (where available) and the recommendations from 
the three scientific peer reviews of the nominations. The NTP will be 
making a final recommendation in 2001 for these nine substances for 
listing in, or changing the current listing from reasonably anticipated 
to be a human carcinogen to the known to be a human carcinogen category 
in the Tenth Report.
    Background documents provided to the review committees and the 
public are available on the web in pdf version at the address above. 
Hard copies of these documents are also available upon request. The NTP 
will review the recommendations of each of the review committees and 
consider the public comments received throughout the process in making 
decisions regarding the NTP recommendations to the Secretary, DHHS, for 
listing of the nominated substances in the Tenth Edition of the Report 
on Carcinogens. The NTP solicits final public comment to supplement any 
previously submitted comments or to provide comments for the first time 
on any substance in the following table. Comments will be accepted 
through June 5, 2000. Comments or questions should be directed to Dr. 
C. W. Jameson at the address listed above.

    Dated: March 28, 2000.
Kenneth Olden,
Director, National Toxicology Program.

       Summary of RG1 \1\, RG2 \2\ and NTP Board Subcommittee \3\ Agents, Substances, Mixtures or Exposure
 Circumstances Reviewed in 1999-2000 for Listing Inor Delisting From the Report on Carcinogens \4\, 10th Edition
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                   NTP board
       Nomination/CAS No.           Primary uses or       RG1 action          RG2 action         subcommittee
                                       exposures                                                    action
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Beryllium and Beryllium           Used in fiber       RG1 unanimously     RG2 recommended (5  The Subcommittee
 compounds/7440-41-7.              optics and          recommended (8/0)   yes votes to 4 no   unanimously
                                   cellular network    listing as known    votes) listing as   recommended (7/0)
                                   communications      to be a human       known to be a       listing as known
                                   systems,            carcinogen.         human carcinogen.   to be a human
                                   aerospace,                                                  carcinogen.
                                   defense and other
                                   industry
                                   applications.
 2,2-bis-(bromomethyl)-1,3-       Used as a fire      RG1 unanimously     RG2 unanimously     The Subcommittee
 propanediol (Technical Grade)     retardant in        recommended (9/0)   recommended (8/0)   unanimously
 3296-90-9.                        unsaturated         listing as          listing as          recommended (7/0)
                                   polyester resins,   reasonably          reasonably          to list as
                                   in molded           anticipated to be   anticipated to be   reasonably
                                   products, and in    a human             a human             anticipated to be
                                   rigid               carcinogen.         carcinogen.         a human
                                   polyurethane foam.                                          carcinogen.
2,3-Dibromo-1-Propanol/96-13-9..  Used as a flame     RG1 unanimously     RG2 unanimously     The Subcommittee
                                   retardant, as an    recommended (9/0)   recommended (9/0)   unanimously
                                   intermediate in     listing as          listing as          recommended (7/0)
                                   the preparation     reasonably          reasonably          to list as
                                   of the flame        anticipated to be   anticipated to be   reasonably
                                   retardant           a human             a human             anticipated to be
                                   tris(2,3-           carcinogen.         carcinogen.         a human
                                   dibromopropyl)                                              carcinogen.
                                   phosphate, and as
                                   an intermediate
                                   in the
                                   manufacture of
                                   pesticides and
                                   pharmaceutical
                                   preparations.
Dyes metabolized to 3,3'-         Dyes mainly used    RG1 recommended (5  RG2 unanimously     The Subcommittee
 Dimethylbenzidine.                for textile         yes votes to 1 no   recommended (9/0)   unanimously
                                   industries with     vote with 1         listing as          recommended (7/0)
                                   other               abstention) to      reasonably          to list as
                                   applications in     list as             anticipated to be   reasonably
                                   paper, plastics,    reasonably          a human             anticipated to be
                                   and rubber          anticipated to be   carcinogen.         a human
                                   industries.         a human                                 carcinogen.
                                                       carcinogen.
Dyes metabolized to 3,3'-         Dyes mainly used    RG1 unanimously     RG2 recommended (   The Subcommittee
 Dimethoxybenzidine.               for textile         recommended (9/0)   8 yes votes to 0    unanimously
                                   industries with     listing as          no vote with 1      recommended (7/0)
                                   other               reasonably          abstention)         to list as
                                   applications in     anticipated to be   listing as          reasonably
                                   paper, plastics,    a human             reasonably          anticipated to be
                                   and rubber          carcinogen.         anticipated to be   a human
                                   industries.                             a human             carcinogen.
                                                                           carcinogen.
IQ (2-Amino-3-methylimidazo[4,5-  Found in cooked     RG1 unanimously     RG2 unanimously     The Subcommittee
 f]quinoline)/76180-96-6.          meat and fish and   recommended (7/0)   recommended (8/0)   unanimously
                                   in cigarette        listing as          listing as          recommended (7/0
                                   smoke.              reasonably          reasonably          to list as
                                                       anticipated to be   anticipated to be   reasonably
                                                       a human             a human             anticipated to be
                                                       carcinogen.         carcinogen.         a human
                                                                                               carcinogen.

[[Page 17893]]

 
Styrene 7,8-oxide/96-09-3.......  Used mainly in the  RG1 recommended (7  RG2 recommended (6  The Subcommittee
                                   preparation of      yes votes to 1 no   yes votes to 3 no   recommended (6
                                   fragrances and in   votes) to list as   votes) to list as   yes votes to 0 no
                                   some epoxy resin    reasonably          reasonably          votes with 1
                                   formulations.       anticipated to be   anticipated to be   abstention) to
                                                       a human             a human             list as
                                                       carcinogen.         carcinogen.         reasonably
                                                                                               anticipated to be
                                                                                               a human
                                                                                               carcinogen.
Vinyl Bromide/593-60-2..........  Used primarily in   RG1 unanimously     RG2 unanimously     The Subcommittee
                                   the manufacture     recommended (10/    recommended (9/0)   recommended (4
                                   of flame            0) listing as       listing as          yes votes to 3 no
                                   retardant           reasonably          reasonably          votes) listing as
                                   synthetic fibers.   anticipated to be   anticipated to be   known to be a
                                                       a human             a human             human carcinogen.
                                                       carcinogen.         carcinogen.
Vinyl Fluoride/75-02-5..........  Used in the         RG1 recommended (7  RG2 unanimously     The Subcommittee
                                   production of       yes votes to 2 no   recommended (9/0)   recommended (4
                                   polyvinylfluoride   votes) to list as   listing as          yes votes to 3 no
                                   which is used for   reasonably          reasonably          votes) listing as
                                   plastics.           anticipated to be   anticipated to be   known to be a
                                                       a human             a human             human carcinogen.
                                                       carcinogen.         carcinogen.
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\1\ The NIEHS Review Committee for the Report on Carcinogens (RG1).
\2\ The NTP Executive Committee* Interagency Working Group for the Report on Carcinogens (RG2).
* Agencies represented on the NTP Executive Committee include: Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
  (ATSDR), Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Food and Drug
  Administration (FDA), National Center for Toxicological Research (NCTR), National Institute for Occupational
  Safety and Health (NIOSH), Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Department of Health and
  Human Services (DHHS), National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Library
  of Medicine (NLM), and National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences/NTP (NIEHS/NTP).
\3\ The NTP Board of Scientific Counselors Report on Carcinogens Subcommittee (the External Peer Review Group).
\4\ RoC--Report on Carcinogens.

[FR Doc. 00-8311 Filed 4-4-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4140-01-P