[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 51 (Tuesday, March 16, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12330-12331]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-5855]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention


National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health; Meeting

    The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) 
of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announces the 
following meeting and request for information:
    Name: Discussion of the Health Risks Associated with Occupational 
Exposure to Titanium Dioxide.
    Time and Date: 9 a.m.-4 p.m., April 29, 2004.
    Place: Robert A. Taft Laboratories, Taft Auditorium, NIOSH, CDC, 
4676 Columbia Parkway, Cincinnati, Ohio 45226.
    Status: The forum will include scientists and representatives from 
various government agencies, industry, labor, and other stakeholders, 
and is

[[Page 12331]]

open to the public, limited only by the space available. The meeting 
room accommodates 80 people. Due to limited space, notification of 
intent to attend the meeting must be made to Diane Miller no later than 
Friday, April 16, 2004. Ms. Miller can be reached by telephone at 513/
533-8450 or by email at [email protected]. Requests to attend the 
meeting will be accommodated on a first-come basis.
    Purpose: To discuss the health data relevant to titanium dioxide 
exposure and the scientific and technical issues associated with the 
development of recommended exposure limits. Special emphasis will be 
placed on discussion of the following:
    (1) What animal and human data best describe the health concerns 
from exposure to titanium dioxide?
    (2) What strategies are being used to control occupational exposure 
to titanium dioxide (e.g., engineering controls, work practices, 
personal protective equipment)?
    (3) At what workplaces and occupations can exposure to titanium 
dioxide occur?
    (4) What challenges exist in measuring workplace exposures to 
titanium dioxide?
    (5) What are areas of future collaborative efforts (e.g., research, 
communication, development of exposure measurement and control 
strategies)?
    The public is invited to attend and will have the opportunity to 
provide comments.
    Summary: NIOSH currently recommends that titanium dioxide be 
considered a potential occupational carcinogen. A review of the recent 
literature indicates that the NIOSH recommendation may not adequately 
reflect current scientific information about the potential biological 
activity of titanium dioxide and other similar substances that have 
poor solubility and can occur in the workplace. Recent evidence 
suggests that these substances, which generally have been regarded as 
causing minimal toxicity in humans, may pose different levels of risk 
depending on their particle size. Ultrafine particles appear to be more 
toxic than an equivalent mass dose of larger respirable particles, an 
effect that appears to be related to the total particle surface area. 
Moreover, when the exposure-response data are evaluated from studies in 
rats exposed to titanium dioxide and other similar substances, there 
appears to be a consistent response that is related to particle surface 
area. NIOSH presently is reviewing the available toxicity data on 
titanium dioxide, as well as other relevant health data associated with 
particle surface area, with the intent of developing new workplace 
recommendations for titanium dioxide, including recommended exposure 
limits (RELs).
    NIOSH seeks to obtain materials, including published and 
unpublished reports and research findings, to evaluate the possible 
health risks of occupational exposure to titanium dioxide (including 
particle size-specific information). Examples of requested information 
include, but are not to be limited to, the following:
    (1) Identification of industries or occupations in which exposures 
to titanium dioxide may occur.
    (2) Trends in the production and use of titanium dioxide.
    (3) Description of work tasks and scenarios with a potential for 
exposure to titanium dioxide.
    (4) Current and historical exposure measurement data in various 
types of industries and jobs.
    (5) Case reports or other health information demonstrating health 
effects in workers exposed to titanium dioxide.
    (6) Reports of experimental in vivo and in vitro studies that 
provide evidence of a dose-relationship between the particle size of a 
substance and its biological activity.
    (7) Reports of experimental inhalation studies with rodents 
demonstrating a relationship between the particle size or surface area 
of a substance and lung inflammation, fibrosis, and biochemical 
mediators.
    (8) Description of work practices and engineering controls used to 
reduce or prevent workplace exposure to titanium dioxide.
    (9) Educational materials for worker safety and training on the 
safe handling of titanium dioxide.
    (10) Data pertaining to the feasibility of establishing particle 
size-specific RELs for titanium dioxide.
    NIOSH will use this information to determine the need for 
developing new recommendations for reducing occupational exposure to 
titanium dioxide.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be submitted to the NIOSH Docket Office, 
ATTN: Diane Miller, Robert A. Taft Laboratories, 4676 Columbia Parkway, 
Cincinnati, Ohio 45226, telephone 513/533-8450, fax 513/533-8230. 
Comments may also be submitted by email to: [email protected]. Email 
attachments should be formatted as Microsoft Word. Comments should be 
submitted to NIOSH no later than April 16, 2004, and should reference 
docket number NIOSH-033 in the subject heading.
    All information received in response to this notice will be 
available for public examination and copying at the NIOSH Docket 
Office, 4676 Columbia Parkway, Cincinnati, Ohio 45226.
    Contact Persons for Technical Information: Eileen Kuempel, M/S C-
15, Robert A. Taft Laboratories, 4676 Columbia Parkway, Cincinnati, 
Ohio 45226, 513/533-8363, or Ralph Zumwalde, M/S C-32, Robert A. Taft 
Laboratories, 4676 Columbia Parkway, Cincinnati, Ohio 45226, 513/533-
8320.
    The Director, Management Analysis and Services Office, has been 
delegated the authority to sign Federal Register Notices pertaining to 
announcements of meetings and other committee management activities, 
for both CDC and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.

    Dated: March 9, 2004.
Alvin Hall,
Director, Management Analysis and Services Office, Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention.
[FR Doc. 04-5855 Filed 3-15-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-19-P