[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 218 (Tuesday, November 12, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67372-67373]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-26909]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

National Institutes of Health


Evaluation of Trichloroethylene for the Report on Carcinogens; 
Request for Nominations of Scientific Experts for Proposed Webinar

SUMMARY: The National Toxicology Program (NTP) Office of the Report on 
Carcinogens (ORoC) requests nominations of speakers for a proposed 
webinar to obtain information related to evaluating the potential 
association of exposure to trichloroethylene (TCE) and cancer.

DATES: The deadline for receipt of nominations of speakers is December 
9, 2013.

ADDRESSES: Information can be submitted electronically on the ORoC TCE 
Web page (http://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/go/37899) or to [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Ruth Lunn, Director, ORoC, 
Division of the NTP, NIEHS, P.O. Box 12233, MD K2-14, Research Triangle 
Park, NC 27709. Phone: (919) 316-4637, FAX: (301) 480-2970, email: 
[email protected]. Hand Delivery/Courier: NIEHS, Room 2138, 530 Davis 
Drive, Morrisville, NC 27560.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Information on Proposed Webinar: TCE is a candidate substance under 
evaluation for the Report on Carcinogens (RoC) (http://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/go/37899). Several comprehensive reviews have 
identified non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and cancer of the liver and kidney as 
sites of concern in humans, and the RoC evaluation will be limited to 
these outcomes.
    As part of the evaluation, the ORoC proposes to convene a webinar 
to obtain input on scientific issues related to evaluating human 
epidemiologic studies of exposure to TCE and cancer risk and use this 
input to help inform its cancer evaluation of TCE. The webinar will 
include a series of presentations by invited speakers that address the 
quality of the methods used in the epidemiology studies to assess 
exposure to TCE and cancer outcome (primarily lymphohematopoietic 
cancer) and information on TCE exposure in the studies. Speakers on 
exposure and cancer-outcome classification will be asked to (1) 
identify the methods used to assess exposure or outcome, (2) discuss 
the validity and reliability of the methods used to classify exposure 
(such as job title, job exposure matrix, biomonitoring, and expert 
assessment) or cancer outcome (such as mortality or incidence data), 
and (3) examine how misclassification of exposure (either qualitative 
or quantitative) or cancer outcome would affect interpretation of the 
study's findings. The speaker addressing TCE exposure will be asked to 
compare measured or estimated levels of exposure to TCE and its 
prevalence in the epidemiologic studies and to discuss how these data 
may explain potential heterogeneity of findings across studies and 
inform the assessment for a specific type of cancer.
    It is envisioned that the webinar will include time for questions 
to speakers by webinar attendees and open discussion. Once plans are 
finalized, the list of speakers and logistical details for

[[Page 67373]]

the webinar will be announced in the Federal Register.
    Request for Nomination of Speakers: The ORoC invites nominations of 
speakers for the webinar with expertise in exposure assessment, 
industrial hygiene, cancer epidemiology, or lymphohematopoietic cancers 
and knowledge of cancer studies on exposure to TCE. Self nomination is 
permitted. Each nomination should include (1) contact information for 
the nominee [name, affiliation (if any), address, telephone, and 
email], (2) a short description of the individual's expertise relative 
to topics covered above in ``Information on Proposed Webinar,'' and (3) 
current curriculum vitae. Nominations of experts can be submitted on-
line via the TCE candidate substance Web page (http://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/go/37899) or by email to [email protected]; receipt 
will be acknowledged by email. Persons submitting nominations on-line 
or by email should provide their name, contact information, 
affiliation, and sponsoring organization (if any). The deadline for 
nominations is December 9, 2013. Persons selected as speakers will be 
notified by email at least 30 days prior to the webinar.
    Responses to this request for nominations are voluntary. This 
request for nominations is for planning purposes only. Please note that 
the U.S. Government will not pay for the preparation of any information 
submitted, and no proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive 
information should be included in the submission.
    Background Information on TCE: TCE, a volatile chlorinated alkene 
used mainly as a metal cleaner and degreaser, has been listed in the 
RoC as reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen since 2000 
(http://ntp-server.niehs.nih.gov/ntp/roc/twelfth/profiles/Trichloroethylene.pdf). The NTP selected TCE for evaluation to 
determine whether a change in its listing status in the RoC might be 
warranted because of the extensive database of recent cancer studies on 
TCE and the public health concern due to its pervasiveness in the 
environment and its presence in food, numerous consumer products, and 
the workplace. Additional information on the status of the RoC review 
of TCE is available at http://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/go/37899.
    Background Information on the RoC: The RoC is a congressionally 
mandated, science-based, public health report that identifies agents, 
substances, mixtures, or exposures (collectively called ``substances'') 
in our environment that pose a cancer hazard for people in the United 
States. The NTP prepares the RoC, on behalf of the Secretary of Health 
and Human Services, using a four-part process and established criteria 
(http://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/go/rocprocess). Published biennially, each 
edition of the RoC is cumulative and consists of substances newly 
reviewed in addition to those listed in previous editions. The 12th 
RoC, the latest edition, was published on June 10, 2011 (available at 
http://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/go/roc12). The 13th RoC is under development.

    Dated: November 5, 2013.
John R. Bucher,
Associate Director, National Toxicology Program.
[FR Doc. 2013-26909 Filed 11-8-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4140-01-P