[Federal Register: September 22, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 183)]
[Notices]
[Page 55047-55048]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr22se03-53]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-7563-2]
Guidance on Selecting the Appropriate Age Groups for Assessing
Childhood Exposures to Environmental Contaminants (External Review
Draft); Notice of Availability
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.
ACTION: Notice of availability and opportunity for public comment.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing a
60-day public comment period for the draft document entitled Guidance
on Selecting the Appropriate Age Groups for Assessing Childhood
Exposures to Environmental Contaminants. The document is intended to
provide guidance to EPA scientists on the appropriate age groups to
consider when assessing childhood exposure and potential dose to
environmental contaminants.
DATES: Comments must be received by November 21, 2003.
[[Page 55048]]
ADDRESSES: The draft is available via the Internet at http://cfpub2.epa.gov/ncea/raf/recordisplay.cfm?deid=55887.
Comments may be
submitted electronically, by mail, or in person, as described in the
instructions under Supplementary Information.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Marilyn Brower, Risk Assessment Forum
Staff (8601D), 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20460;
telephone: 202-564-3363; fax: 202-565-0061; e-mail:
brower.marilyn@epa.gov
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Submission of Comments
Electronic comments are preferred and may be sent by e-mail to:
risk.forum@epa.gov. Alternatively, comments may be mailed to the
Technical Information Staff (8623D), NCEA-W, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20460,
or delivered to the Technical Information Staff at 808 17th Street,
N.W., 5th Floor, Washington, DC 20006; telephone: 202-564-3261;
facsimile: 202-565-0050. In the case of paper comments, 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.
Please note that all comments received in response to this notice
will be placed in a public record. For that reason, comments should not
contain personal information (such as medical data or home address),
Confidential Business Information, or information protected by
copyright.
II. Background
EPA has been investigating ways to improve Agency risk assessments
for children in response to recent reports and regulatory initiatives
including the 1993 National Academy of Sciences (NAS) report
``Pesticides in the Diets of Infants and Children'', the Food Quality
Protection Act of 1996 (FQPA) and Executive Order 13045, ``Protection
of Children from Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risk''. One
effort undertaken by a Risk Assessment Forum workgroup has been
exploring children's exposure assessment issues. Children's behavior
changes over time in ways that can have an important impact on exposure
and potential dose. Further, children's physiology changes over time in
ways that can affect potential dose, internal dose, and susceptibility
to certain health effects. The workgroup has concluded that a major
issue facing the Agency is how to consistently consider age-related
changes in behavior and physiology when assessing early lifestage
exposure and potential dose. A key issue is how to capture these
changes in an assessment of risks from exposure to environmental
contaminants. This issue is critical for scientists involved in
preparing exposure assessments applicable to children and for use in
evaluating integrated lifetime exposures.
The workgroup's draft guidance provides a recommended set of
childhood age groups to promote cross-program consistency in Agency
risk assessments for children. In addition, these age groups will guide
future analyses of exposure factors data as well as new research and
data collection efforts. The recommendations presented are based on
discussions held during a July 2000 technical workshop on considering
developmental changes when assessing exposures to children and a
subsequent expert analysis of existing exposure factors data.
The document is undergoing peer review concurrent with the public
comment period described in this notice. This guidance is not a
regulation nor is it intended to substitute for federal regulations. It
does not establish any substantive ``rules'' under the Administrative
Procedure Act or any other law and will have no binding effect on EPA
or any regulated entity.
Dated: September 10, 2003.
Peter W. Preuss,
Director, National Center for Environmental Assessment.
[FR Doc. 03-24122 Filed 9-18-03; 12:01 pm]
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