[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 219 (Monday, November 15, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 69662-69664]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-28665]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-9225-9; Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD-2010-0927]


Workshop: Cumulative Mixtures Risk of Six Selected Phthalates in 
Support of Summary Information on the Integrated Risk Information 
System (IRIS)

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of Peer Consultation Workshop on the Cumulative Mixtures 
Risk of Six Selected Phthalates; Request for Public Comments.

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SUMMARY: EPA is announcing that ICF International, an EPA contractor 
for external scientific peer consultation, will convene a panel of 
independent experts and conduct an external peer consultation workshop 
to: (1) Review the recommendations for evaluation of the cumulative 
mixtures risk of phthalates as set forth in the National Academies of 
Science (NAS) report ``Phthalates and Cumulative Risk Assessment: The 
Tasks Ahead'' (2008); and (2) propose additional methods and

[[Page 69663]]

approaches, not already captured in the 2008 NAS report, that may 
facilitate the assessment of risk(s) associated with exposure to 
cumulative mixtures of the six selected phthalates.
    ICF International invites all interested public parties to register 
to attend this workshop as observers. Space is limited, and 
reservations will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. In 
addition, ICF International invites the public to give brief oral 
comments at the conclusion of each workshop day. Furthermore, there is 
an opportunity to provide written comments regarding the subject matter 
under discussion; for more information please see below. In 
conceptualizing and preparing a draft of the ``Toxicological Review of 
the Cumulative Mixtures Risk of Six Selected Phthalates,'' EPA will 
consider ICF's report of the comments and recommendations from 
individuals participating in the external peer consultation workshop 
and any written public comments that EPA receives in accordance with 
this notice.

DATES: The peer consultation workshop on the Cumulative Mixtures Risk 
of Six Selected Phthalates will be held on December 8 and 9, 2010, 
beginning at 8 a.m. and ending at 5 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. Please 
note that a public comment period begins November 15, 2010 and ends 
January 4, 2011. Technical comments should be in writing and must be 
received by the EPA by January 4, 2011.

ADDRESSES: The peer consultation workshop on the Cumulative Mixtures 
Risk of Six Selected Phthalates will be held at the Double Tree Crystal 
City, located at 300 Army Navy Drive in Arlington, VA. To attend the 
workshop, register no later than December 3, 2010, preferably via the 
workshop Web site page at http://epa.phthalatesworkshop.icfi.com. 
Alternatively, you may register by calling ICF International at 1-703-
934-3173, sending a facsimile to 1-703-934-3470, or sending an e-mail 
to Ms. Ami Parekh Gordon at [email protected].
    Additional Information: EPA welcomes public attendance at the 
``Peer Consultation Workshop on Cumulative Mixtures Risk of Six 
Selected Phthalates'' and will make every effort to accommodate persons 
with disabilities. For information on access or services for 
individuals with disabilities, or if you have any other questions 
related to this workshop please contact Ms. Ami Parekh Gordon of ICF 
International at [email protected] or by phone at 1-703-934-3173.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Information About IRIS

    EPA's IRIS is a human health assessment program that evaluates 
quantitative and qualitative risk information on effects that may 
result from exposure to chemical substances found in the environment. 
Through the IRIS Program, EPA provides the highest quality science-
based human health assessments to support the Agency's regulatory 
activities. The IRIS database contains information for more than 550 
chemical substances that can be used to support the first two steps 
(hazard identification and dose-response evaluation) of the risk 
assessment process. When supported by available data, IRIS provides 
oral reference doses (RfDs) and inhalation reference concentrations 
(RfCs) for chronic noncancer health effects and cancer assessments. 
Combined with specific exposure information, government and private 
entities use IRIS to help characterize public health risks of chemical 
substances in a site-specific situation and thereby support risk 
management decisions designed to protect public health.
    The IRIS cumulative assessment will address the specific 
recommendations presented in the NAS report on cumulative risk for 
phthalates and expand the discussion to other approaches that may also 
be applicable. The 2008 NAS report recommended that:
    [cir] EPA group chemicals that cause common adverse outcomes and 
not focus exclusively on structural similarity or on similar mechanisms 
of action, and
    [cir] Phthalates and other agents that cause androgen insufficiency 
or block androgen-receptor signaling, and are thus capable of inducing 
effects that characterize components of the phthalate syndrome, should 
be considered in a cumulative risk assessment.
    In response to NAS recommendations, EPA is conducting research to: 
(1) Determine whether prenatal exposures to phthalates are associated 
with adverse effects in male and female offspring; (2) determine how 
phthalates interact in mixtures with other phthalates, toxic 
substances, and pesticides to induce adverse effects, in particular 
disruption of reproductive development in males and females; and (3) 
determine approaches to integrate new data on multiple phthalates into 
a cumulative mixtures assessment.

II. How To Submit Comments to the Docket at http://www.regulations.gov

    Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD-2010-
0927, by one of the following methods:
     http://www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line 
instructions for submitting comments.
     E-mail: [email protected].
     Facsimile: 202-566-1753.
     Mail: Office of Environmental Information (OEI) Docket 
(Mail Code: 2822T), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 
Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460. The telephone number is 
202-566-1752. If you provide comments by mail, 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.
     Hand Delivery: The OEI Docket is located in the EPA 
Headquarters Docket Center, EPA West Building, Room 3334, 1301 
Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, DC. The EPA Docket Center Public 
Reading Room is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through 
Friday, excluding legal holidays. The telephone number for the Public 
Reading Room is 202-566-1744. Deliveries are only accepted during the 
docket's normal hours of operation, and special arrangements should be 
made for deliveries of boxed information. If you provide comments by 
hand delivery, 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.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD-
2010-0927. Please ensure that your comments are submitted within the 
specified comment period. Comments received after the closing date will 
be marked ``late,'' and may only be considered if time permits. It is 
EPA's policy to include all comments it receives in the public docket 
without change and to make the comments available online at http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided, 
unless comments include information claimed to be Confidential Business 
Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is restricted 
by statute. Do not submit information that you consider to be CBI or 
otherwise protected through http://www.regulations.gov or e-mail. The 
http://www.regulations.gov Web site is an ``anonymous access'' system, 
which

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means EPA will not know your identity or contact information unless you 
provide it in the body of your comments. If you send e-mail comments 
directly to EPA without going through http://www.regulations.gov, your 
e-mail address will be automatically captured and included as part of 
the comments that are placed in the public docket and made available on 
the Internet. If you submit electronic comments, EPA recommends that 
you include your name and other contact information in the body of your 
comments and with any disk or CD-ROM you submit. If EPA cannot read 
your comments due to technical difficulties and cannot contact you for 
clarification, EPA may not be able to consider your comments. 
Electronic files should avoid the use of special characters and any 
form of encryption and be free of any defects or viruses. For 
additional information about EPA's public docket, visit the EPA Docket 
Center homepage at http://www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm.
    Docket: All documents in the docket are listed in the http://www.regulations.gov index. Although listed in the index, some 
information is not publicly available, e.g., CBI or other information 
whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other material, such 
as copyrighted material, will be publicly available only in hard copy. 
Publicly available docket materials are available either electronically 
at http://www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the OEI Docket in the 
EPA Headquarters Docket Center.

    Dated: November 8, 2010.
Darrell A. Winner,
Acting Director, National Center for Environmental Assessment.
[FR Doc. 2010-28665 Filed 11-12-10; 8:45 am]
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