[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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