[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 183 (Monday, September 22, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55047-55048]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-24122]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-7563-2]


Guidance on Selecting the Appropriate Age Groups for Assessing 
Childhood Exposures to Environmental Contaminants (External Review 
Draft); Notice of Availability

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Notice of availability and opportunity for public comment.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing a 
60-day public comment period for the draft document entitled Guidance 
on Selecting the Appropriate Age Groups for Assessing Childhood 
Exposures to Environmental Contaminants. The document is intended to 
provide guidance to EPA scientists on the appropriate age groups to 
consider when assessing childhood exposure and potential dose to 
environmental contaminants.

DATES: Comments must be received by November 21, 2003.

[[Page 55048]]


ADDRESSES: The draft is available via the Internet at http://cfpub2.epa.gov/ncea/raf/recordisplay.cfm?deid=55887. Comments may be 
submitted electronically, by mail, or in person, as described in the 
instructions under Supplementary Information.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Marilyn Brower, Risk Assessment Forum 
Staff (8601D), 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20460; 
telephone: 202-564-3363; fax: 202-565-0061; e-mail: 
[email protected]

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Submission of Comments

    Electronic comments are preferred and may be sent by e-mail to: 
[email protected]. Alternatively, 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, 
N.W., 5th Floor, Washington, DC 20006; telephone: 202-564-3261; 
facsimile: 202-565-0050. In the case of paper comments, 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.
    Please note that all comments received in response to this notice 
will be placed in a public record. For that reason, comments should not 
contain personal information (such as medical data or home address), 
Confidential Business Information, or information protected by 
copyright.

II. Background

    EPA has been investigating ways to improve Agency risk assessments 
for children in response to recent reports and regulatory initiatives 
including the 1993 National Academy of Sciences (NAS) report 
``Pesticides in the Diets of Infants and Children'', the Food Quality 
Protection Act of 1996 (FQPA) and Executive Order 13045, ``Protection 
of Children from Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risk''. One 
effort undertaken by a Risk Assessment Forum workgroup has been 
exploring children's exposure assessment issues. Children's behavior 
changes over time in ways that can have an important impact on exposure 
and potential dose. Further, children's physiology changes over time in 
ways that can affect potential dose, internal dose, and susceptibility 
to certain health effects. The workgroup has concluded that a major 
issue facing the Agency is how to consistently consider age-related 
changes in behavior and physiology when assessing early lifestage 
exposure and potential dose. A key issue is how to capture these 
changes in an assessment of risks from exposure to environmental 
contaminants. This issue is critical for scientists involved in 
preparing exposure assessments applicable to children and for use in 
evaluating integrated lifetime exposures.
    The workgroup's draft guidance provides a recommended set of 
childhood age groups to promote cross-program consistency in Agency 
risk assessments for children. In addition, these age groups will guide 
future analyses of exposure factors data as well as new research and 
data collection efforts. The recommendations presented are based on 
discussions held during a July 2000 technical workshop on considering 
developmental changes when assessing exposures to children and a 
subsequent expert analysis of existing exposure factors data.
    The document is undergoing peer review concurrent with the public 
comment period described in this notice. This guidance is not a 
regulation nor is it intended to substitute for federal regulations. It 
does not establish any substantive ``rules'' under the Administrative 
Procedure Act or any other law and will have no binding effect on EPA 
or any regulated entity.

    Dated: September 10, 2003.
Peter W. Preuss,
Director, National Center for Environmental Assessment.
[FR Doc. 03-24122 Filed 9-18-03; 12:01 pm]
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