[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 153 (Thursday, August 10, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54319-54320]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-17129]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[Docket Number CDC-2023-0057, NIOSH-156-F]


Request for Public Comment on the Draft Immediately Dangerous to 
Life or Health (IDLH) Value Document for Hydrogen Chloride

AGENCY: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Department of 
Health and Human Services (HHS).

ACTION: Request for comment.

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SUMMARY: The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health 
(NIOSH) in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an 
Operating Division of the Department of Health and Human Services 
(HHS), requests public comment and technical review on the draft 
Immediately Dangerous to Life or Health (IDLH) Value Profile document 
for the chemical hydrogen chloride (CAS# 7647-01-0).

DATES: Electronic or written comments must be received by October 10, 
2023.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by docket number CDC-
2023-0057 and docket number NIOSH-156-F, by either of the following 
methods:

[[Page 54320]]

     Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
     Mail: National Institute for Occupational Safety and 
Health, NIOSH Docket Office, 1090 Tusculum Avenue, MS C-34, Cincinnati, 
Ohio 45226-1998.
    Instructions: All information received in response to this notice 
must include the agency name and docket number (CDC-2023-0057; NIOSH-
156-F). All relevant comments, including any personal information 
provided, will be posted without change to https://www.regulations.gov. 
Do not submit comments by email. CDC does not accept comments by email. 
For access to the docket to read background documents or comments 
received, go to https://www.regulations.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: R. Todd Niemeier, Ph.D., National 
Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, MS-C15, 1090 Tusculum 
Avenue, Cincinnati, OH 45226. Telephone: (513) 533-8166.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NIOSH is requesting public comment and 
technical review on a draft IDLH Value Profile document for the 
chemical hydrogen chloride. To facilitate the review of this document, 
NIOSH requests comment on the following specific questions for the 
draft Profile document:
    1. Does this document clearly outline the health hazards associated 
with acute (or short-term) exposures to the chemical? If not, what 
specific information is missing from the document?
    2. Are the rationale and logic behind the derivation of an IDLH 
value for a specific chemical clearly explained? If not, what specific 
information is needed to clarify the basis of the IDLH value?
    3. Are the conclusions supported by the data?
    4. Are the tables clear and appropriate?
    5. Is the document organized appropriately? If not, what 
improvements are needed?
    6. Are you aware of any scientific data reported in government 
publications, databases, peer-reviewed journals, or other sources that 
should be included within this document?
    The draft IDLH Value Profile was developed to provide the 
scientific rationale behind derivation of IDLH values for the following 
chemical:

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            Document #                   Chemical             CAS #
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X-XX.............................  Hydrogen Chloride...    (#7647-01-0)
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    The IDLH Value Profile provides a detailed summary of the health 
hazards of acute exposures to high airborne concentrations of the 
chemical and the rationale for the IDLH value.
    Background: In 2013, NIOSH published Current Intelligence Bulletin 
(CIB) 66: Derivation of Immediately Dangerous to Life or Health (IDLH) 
Values [http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2014-100/pdfs/2014-100.pdf] 
[NIOSH 2013]. The information presented in this CIB represents the 
scientific rationale and the current methodology used to derive IDLH 
values. Since the establishment of the IDLH values in the 1970s, NIOSH 
has continued to review available scientific data to improve the 
protocol used to derive acute exposure guidelines, in addition to the 
chemical specific IDLH values.
    IDLH values are based on health effects considerations determined 
through a critical assessment of the toxicology and human health 
effects data. This approach ensures that the IDLH values reflect an 
airborne concentration of a substance that represents a high-risk 
situation that may endanger workers' lives or health.
    The primary steps applied in the establishment of an IDLH value 
include the following:
    1. Critical review of human and animal toxicity data to identify 
potentially relevant studies and characterize the various lines of 
evidence that can support the derivation of the IDLH value;
    2. Determination of a chemical's mode of action or description of 
how a chemical exerts its toxic effects;
    3. Application of duration adjustments (time scaling) to determine 
30-minute-equivalent exposure concentrations and the conduct of other 
dosimetry adjustments, as needed;
    4. Experimental or other data to establish a point of departure 
(POD) such as lethal concentrations (e.g., LC50), lowest observed 
adverse effect level (LOAEL), or no observed adverse effect level 
(NOAEL);
    5. Selection and application of an uncertainty factor (UF) for POD 
or critical adverse effect concentration, identified from the available 
studies to account for issues associated with interspecies and 
intraspecies differences, severity of the observed effects, data 
quality, or data insufficiencies; and
    6. Development of the final recommendation for the IDLH value from 
the various alternative lines of evidence, with use of a weight-of-
evidence approach to all the data.

Reference

    NIOSH [2013]. Current intelligence bulletin 66: derivation of 
immediately dangerous to life or health (IDLH) values. Cincinnati, 
OH: US Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety 
and Health, DHHS (NIOSH) Publication 2014-100.

    Dated: August 4, 2023.
John J. Howard,
Director, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
[FR Doc. 2023-17129 Filed 8-9-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P