[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 222 (Friday, November 18, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 69972-69973]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-22874]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
[60 Day-06-0463]
Proposed Data Collections Submitted for Public Comment and
Recommendations
In compliance with the requirement of section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 for opportunity for public comment on
proposed data collection projects, the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) will publish periodic summaries of proposed projects.
To request more information on the proposed projects or to obtain a
copy of the data collection plans and instruments, call 404-639-4766
and send comments to Seleda Perryman, CDC Assistant Reports Clearance
Officer, 1600 Clifton Road, MS-D74, Atlanta, GA 30333 or send an e-mail
to [email protected].
Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collection of
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of
the agency, including whether the information shall have practical
utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the
proposed collection of information; (c) ways to enhance the quality,
utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) ways
to minimize the burden of the collection of information on respondents,
including through the use of automated collection techniques or other
forms of information technology. Written comments should be received
within 60 days of this notice.
Proposed Project
Longitudinal Surveillance for Beryllium Disease Prevention--
Extension--National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
(NIOSH)--Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Background and Brief Description
The mission of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and
Health (NIOSH) is to promote safety and health at work for all people
through research and prevention. The Occupational Safety and Health
Act, Pub. L. 91-596 (section 20[a][1]) authorizes the National
Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) to conduct
research to advance the health and safety of workers.
NIOSH has been conducting this survey of beryllium workers for
three years and this extension will allow for completion of the data
collection. Workers are asked to complete an interviewer administered
medical and work history questionnaire and to give a blood sample.
Without medical and work history data on former workers, NIOSH staff
will be unable to conduct the necessary research to make
recommendations for preventing beryllium sensitization and disease.
Follow-up on this cohort will provide invaluable information on the
natural history of disease, gene-gene, and gene-environment
interactions, which can become the basis for prevention policy at both
company and government levels.
Beryllium is a lightweight metal with many applications. Exposed
workers may be found in the primary production, nuclear power and
weapons, aerospace, scrap metal reclamation, specialty ceramics, and
electronics industries, among others. The size of the U.S. workforce at
risk of chronic beryllium disease (CBD), from either current or past
work-related exposure to the metal, may be as high as one million
workers. Demand for beryllium is growing worldwide, which means that
increasing numbers of workers are likely to be exposed.
CBD is a chronic granulomatous lung disease mediated through an
immunologic mechanism in workers who become sensitized to the metal.
Sensitization can be detected with a blood test called the beryllium
lymphocyte proliferation test (BeLPT), which is used by the industry as
a surveillance tool. Use of this test for surveillance was first
reported in 1989. Sensitized workers, identified through workplace
surveillance programs, undergo clinical diagnostic tests to determine
whether they have CBD. Research has indicated certain genetic
determinants in the risk of CBD; follow-up studies will be invaluable
for further characterizing the genetic contribution to sensitization
and disease.
NIOSH is in a unique position to accomplish this research for a
number of reasons: (a) It has a successful collaboration with the
leading
[[Page 69973]]
manufacturer of beryllium in the U.S. This has allowed us to establish
well-characterized worker cohorts within the beryllium industry. (b) It
is conducting industrial hygiene research that should significantly
improve workplace-based exposure assessment methods. This research will
allow characterization of jobs and tasks by physicochemical
characteristics, leading to an estimation of dose rather than mass
concentration-based exposure. (c) It has pioneered the evaluation of
the dermal exposure route in the beryllium sensitization process. (d)
It has developed and improved genetic research that will contribute to
the understanding of risk variability in sensitization and disease, as
well as discerning the underlying mechanisms. (e) NIOSH has the
institutional stability to continue longitudinal evaluations of health
outcomes in relation to exposure and genetic risk factors. There is no
cost to respondents other than their time.
Estimates of Annualized Burden Hours
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Number of Average burden/
Respondents Number of responses / response (in Total burden
respondents respondent hours) (in hours)
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Former Workers.............................. 100 1 30/60 50
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Dated: November 14, 2005.
Betsey Dunaway,
Acting Reports Clearance Officer, Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention.
[FR Doc. 05-22874 Filed 11-17-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P