[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 54 (Wednesday, March 20, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12996-12997]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-6624]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Proposed Criteria for Selecting New Environmental Chemicals or
Categories of Chemicals for Analytic Development and for Inclusion in
Future Releases of the National Report on Human Exposure to
Environmental Chemicals
AGENCY: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Health and
Human Services (HHS).
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: Requests public comment on CDC's proposed criteria for
selecting new environmental chemicals or categories of chemicals for
analytical method development and for selecting additional
environmental chemicals or categories of chemicals to appear in future
releases of the ``National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental
Chemicals'' (the ``Report''). The proposed criteria for choosing new
environmental chemicals or categories of chemicals for analytic
development and for including chemicals or categories of chemicals in
future editions of the ``Report'' are as follows: (1) Independent
scientific data which suggest that the potential for exposure of the
U.S. population to a particular chemical is changing or persisting; (2)
seriousness of health effects known or suspected to result from
exposure to the chemical (for example, cancer and birth defects); (3)
the proportion of the U.S. population likely to be exposed to levels of
chemicals of known or potential health significance; (4) the need to
assess the efficacy of public health actions to reduce exposure to a
chemical in the U.S. population or a large component of the U.S.
population (for example, in children); (5) the existence of an analytic
method that can measure the chemical or its metabolite in blood or
urine with adequate accuracy, precision, sensitivity, specificity, and
speed; and (6) the incremental analytical cost (in dollars and
personnel) to perform the analyses (preference is given to chemicals
that can be added readily to existing analytical methods). After
reviewing and incorporating public comments from this announcement, CDC
will publish the criteria in their final form in the Federal Register
along with a general notice requesting public nominations of new
chemicals that satisfy the new criteria. The criteria will be used by
experts to prioritize the nominated chemicals for analytical method
development and for eventual inclusion in the ``Report.''
DATES: Submit comments on or before April 19, 2002.
ADDRESSES: Address all comments concerning this notice to Dorothy
Sussman, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center
for Environmental Health, Division of Laboratory Sciences, Mail Stop F-
20, 4770 Buford Highway, Atlanta, Georgia 30341.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Technical Information: Dr. Richard
Wang, Telephone 770-488-7950
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The ``Report'' provides an ongoing
assessment of the exposure of the U.S. population to environmental
chemicals using biomonitoring. (The ``Report'' is published by CDC
under the authoritities 42 U.S.C. 241 and 42 U.S.C. 242k). For the
``Report,'' an environmental chemical means a chemical compound or
chemical element present in air, water, soil, dust, food, or other
environmental media. Biomonitoring is the assessment of human exposure
to chemicals by measuring the chemicals or their breakdown products in
human specimens, such as blood or urine. The ``Report'' provides this
exposure information about participants in an ongoing national survey
known as the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).
This
[[Page 12997]]
survey is conducted by CDC's National Center for Health Statistics;
measurements are conducted by CDC's National Center for Environmental
Health. The first ``Report,'' published in March 2001, gave information
about levels of 27 chemicals found in the U.S. population. The
``Report'' can be obtained at the following: www.cdc.gov/nceh/dls/report/'; email [email protected] or Telephone 1-866-670-6052. In
addition to those chemicals in the first ``Report,'' the following
categories or classes of environmental chemicals will be in the second
``Report:'' polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), co-planar and non-
planar polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), persistent organochlorine
pesticides, carbamate pesticides, dioxins, and furans.
Future editions of the ``Report'' will provide detailed assessments
of exposure levels among different population groups defined by sex,
race/ ethnicity, age, urban /rural residence, education level, income,
and other characteristics. Over time, CDC will be able to track trends
in exposure levels. Future editions may also include additional
exposure information for special-exposure populations (e.g., children)
from studies of people through localized or point sources and from
studies of adverse health effects resulting from exposure to varying
levels of environmental chemicals.
Dated: March 12, 2002.
Joseph R. Carter,
Associate Director for Management and Operations, Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC).
[FR Doc. 02-6624 Filed 3-19-02; 8:45 am]
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