[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 210 (Monday, October 30, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64702-64703]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-27781]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-6893-4]


Reference Dose for Methylmercury

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Notice of peer-review workshop and public comment period.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing 
that Versar, Inc., an EPA contractor for external scientific peer 
review, will convene a panel of experts and organize and conduct an 
external peer-review workshop to review the draft document titled, 
Reference Dose for Methylmercury (NCEA-S-0930). The EPA is also 
announcing a 30-day public comment period for the draft document. The 
document was prepared by the EPA's National Center for Environmental 
Assessment-Washington Office (NCEA-W) within the Office of Research and 
Development. NCEA will consider the peer-review advice and public 
comment submissions in revising the document.

DATES: The peer-review workshop will begin on Wednesday, November 15, 
2000, at 9 a.m. and end at 5 p.m. Members of the public may attend as 
observers, and there will be a limited time for comments from the 
public in the afternoon. The 30-day public comment period begins 
October 30, 2000, and ends November 29, 2000.

ADDRESSES: The external peer-review panel workshop will be held at the 
Marriott Crystal Gateway Hotel, 1700 Jefferson Davis Highway, 
Arlington, Virginia 22202, (703) 920-3230. Versar, Inc., an EPA 
contractor, is organizing, convening, and conducting the peer-review 
workshop. To attend the workshop, register by November 6, 2000, by 
calling Versar, Inc. (Ms. Marit Espevik) at (703) 750-3000, ext. 460, 
or send a facsimile to (703) 642-6954. You also can register via e-mail 
at [email protected]. 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 afternoon of the workshop. 
Please let Versar, Inc. know if you wish to make comments.
    The external review draft is available primarily via the Internet 
on the National Center for Environmental Assessment's home page at 
http://www.epa.gov/ncea under the What's New and Publications menus. A 
limited number of paper copies are available from NCEA's Technical 
Information Staff; telephone: (202) 564-3261; facsimile: (202) 565-
0050. If you are

[[Page 64703]]

requesting a paper copy, please provide your name, mailing address, and 
the document title, Reference Dose for Methylmercury (NCEA-S-0930). 
Copies are not available from Versar, Inc.
    Comments may be mailed to the Technical Information Staff (8623D), 
NCEA-W, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, 
NW., Washington, DC 20460, or delivered to the Technical Information 
Staff at 808 17th Street, NW., 5th Floor, Washington, DC 20006; 
telephone: (202) 564-3261; facsimile: (202) 565-0050. Comments should 
be in writing and must be postmarked by November 29, 2000. Please 
submit one unbound original with pages numbered consecutively, and 
three copies of the comments. For attachments, provide an index, number 
pages consecutively with the comments, and submit an unbound original 
and three copies. Electronic comments may be e-mailed to: [email protected].
    Please note that all technical comments received in response to 
this notice will be placed in a public record. 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 workshop information, 
registration, and logistics, contact Versar Inc., (Ms. Marit Espevik, 
telephone: (703) 750-3000, ext. 460; facsimile: (703) 642-6954).
    For information about the draft document, contact the Technical 
Information Staff, NCEA-Washington Office; telephone: (202) 564-3261; 
facsimile: (202) 565-0050; or e-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In 1997, U.S. EPA issued the Mercury Study 
Report to Congress (MSRC). Among the assessments in the MSRC was a 
state-of-the-science evaluation of the health effects of methylmercury. 
There has been considerable discussion within the scientific community 
regarding the level of exposure to methylmercury that is likely to be 
without appreciable risk of adverse health effects. Congress directed 
EPA through the House Appropriations Report for FY99 to contract with 
the National Research Council to evaluate the body of data on the 
health effects of methylmercury, with particular emphasis on new data 
since the 1997 Mercury Study Report to Congress, and provide 
recommendations regarding issues relevant to the derivation of an 
appropriate RfD for methylmercury. EPA has thoroughly reviewed this 
document, and concurs with the NRC findings and recommendations. The 
NRC document is used as the basis for the current EPA derivation of the 
RfD for methylmercury.
    Methylmercury is a highly toxic substance; there are a number of 
adverse health effects associated with methylmercury exposure. Most 
extensive are the data for neurotoxicity, particularly in developing 
organisms. Therefore the brain is considered to be the most sensitive 
target organ for which there are data suitable for derivation of an 
RfD. The NRC considered three epidemiological longitudinal 
developmental studies suitable for quantitative risk assessment: the 
Seychelles Islands, the Faroe Islands, and New Zealand. The Seychelles 
study has yielded no evidence of impairment related to methylmercury 
exposure, while both the other studies have found dose-related adverse 
effects on a number of neuropsychological endpoints. The Faroe Islands 
study, the larger of the latter two studies, has been extensively peer-
reviewed and is used for the derivation of the RfD. The NRC's major 
finding is that the results of the Faroe Islands study provide a 
scientifically credible basis on which to base EPA's RfD.
    The RfD derived in this assessment is 0.1 ug/kg per day. This is 
the same as the RfD derived by EPA in 1995 based on an earlier study of 
a poisoning episode in Iraq, in which data on adverse neurological 
effects in infants was used as the point of departure for derivation of 
the RfD.

    Dated: October 24, 2000.
William H. Farland,
Director, National Center for Environmental Assessment.
[FR Doc. 00-27781 Filed 10-27-00; 8:45 am]
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