[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 38 (Monday, February 27, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9827-9828]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-2710]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
[30Day-06-0463]
Agency Forms Undergoing Paperwork Reduction Act Review
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) publishes a
list of information collection requests under review by the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) in compliance with the Paperwork Reduction
Act (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35). To request a copy of these requests, call
the CDC Reports Clearance Officer at (404) 639-4766 or send an e-mail
to [email protected]. Send written comments to CDC Desk Officer, Office of
Management and Budget, Washington, DC or by fax to (202) 395-6974.
Written comments should be received within 30 days of this notice.
Proposed Project
Longitudinal Surveillance for Beryllium Disease Prevention--0920-
0463--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, Public Law 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 is
conducting a study of beryllium workers. 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. 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 manufacturer of beryllium in the US. 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.
NIOSH has been conducting this survey of beryllium workers for
three years and this extension will allow for completion of the data
collection on former workers. 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.
There are no costs to the respondents other than their time. The
only change to this previously approved project is a decrease in the
burden hours because the proposed data collection is almost complete.
The total estimated annualized burden hours are 50.
Estimated Annualized Burden Hours
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Number of Average burden
Respondents Number of responses per per response
respondents respondent (in hours)
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Former Workers............................................... 100 1 30/60
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[[Page 9828]]
Dated: February 21, 2006.
Joan F. Karr,
Acting Reports Clearance Officer, Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention.1
[FR Doc. E6-2710 Filed 2-24-06; 8:45 am]
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