[Federal Register: May 16, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 94)]
[Notices]
[Page 28346-28347]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr16my06-87]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Proposed Criteria for Removing Chemicals From Future Editions of
CDC's 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: On Monday, October 7, 2002, CDC published final criteria for
consideration of chemicals or categories of chemicals for possible
inclusion in future releases of CDC's ``National Report on Human
Exposure to Environmental Chemicals (the ``Report'') and also solicited
chemicals for possible inclusion in future editions of the ``Report''
(See Federal Register, 67 FR 62477). The final selection criteria have
remained the same since the issuance of the 2002 notice. They 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 (i.e., increasing or decreasing) or persisting; (2)
seriousness of health effects known or suspected to result from
exposure to the chemical (for example, cancer, birth defects, or other
serious health effects); (3) proportion of the U.S. population likely
to be exposed to levels of chemicals of known or potential health
significance; (4) 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, among children, women of
childbearing age, the elderly); (5) existence of an analytical method
that can measure the chemical or its metabolite in blood or urine with
adequate accuracy, precision, sensitivity, and speed; and (6)
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).
On Tuesday, September 30, 2003, CDC published a record of the
nominated chemicals of interest that were scored by a panel of experts
in accordance with the published selection criteria. (See Federal
Register, 68 FR 56296.) All of this information is available on CDC's
Web site at http://www.cdc.gov/exposurereport/chemical_nominations.htm.
Past and future nominations do not result in
obligatory laboratory analysis or inclusion of nominated chemicals in
the ``Report,'' but rather serve to better inform CDC about which
chemicals are of concern to the public.
CDC now requests public comment on proposed criteria for removing
chemicals from future editions of the ``Report.'' These removal
criteria (given below) will become part of a combined process of
nominating chemicals for inclusion in or removal from the ``Report.''
This process will include (a) nominations from the public of chemicals
to include or remove from the ``Report,''(b) an external scoring of
nominations in accord with the published nomination and removal
criteria, and (c) assistance from the Board of Scientific Counselors of
CDC's National Center for Environmental Health/Agency for Toxic
Substances and Disease Registry in reviewing plans for including or
removing chemicals and identifying alternatives for monitoring specific
at-risk population subgroups. This combined process for nomination and
removal would occur periodically (e.g., every six years). The criteria
for selecting and removing chemicals apply only to those chemicals
published in the ``Report,'' not those merely nominated.
The proposed removal criteria are as follows: A chemical may be
removed from the ``Report'': (1) If a new replacement chemical (i.e., a
metabolite) is more representative of exposure than the chemical
currently being measured or; (2) if after three survey periods (or not
less than six years), detection rates for all chemicals within a
methodological and chemically-related group* are less than 5 percent
for all
[[Page 28347]]
population subgroups (two sexes, three race/ethnicity, and three age
groups) or; (3) if after three survey periods (or not less than six
years), levels of chemicals within a methodological and chemically-
related group are unchanged or declining in all the specific subgroups
as documented in the ``Report.''
A chemical would continue to be measured and not be removed from
the ``Report'' if it met either of two proposed exceptions to these
criteria: (a) It is a chemical for which there is an established
biomonitoring health threshold (e.g., CDC's level of concern for blood
lead levels in children) or any chemical for which there is widespread
public health concern (e.g., mercury) or (b) three survey periods (or
not less than six years) have passed, which constitute the minimum time
before a chemical could be removed; a longer period may be necessary to
account for the half-life of a particular chemical or to account for a
recent change (e.g., the removal of a chemical from commerce) that
would necessitate monitoring of the population.
Note that the criteria for removing a chemical from the ``Report''
are not the corollaries of the criteria for adding chemicals to the
``Report.'' After reviewing and incorporating public comments from this
announcement, CDC will publish the criteria in their final form in the
Federal Register.
*Chemicals within a methodological and chemically related group
are those which are detected and identified by a single test or
analytic procedure, such that individual chemicals in the group
cannot easily be dropped from analysis while others in the group
continue to be monitored.
DATES: Submit comments on or before May 31, 2006, to the below address.
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: Dorothy Sussman, Telephone 770-488-
7950.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: CDC publishes the ``Report'' under the
authorities 42 U.S.C. 241 and 42 U.S.C. 242k. The ``Report'' provides
ongoing assessment using biomonitoring of the exposure of the
noninstitutionalized, civilian population to environmental chemicals.
Biomonitoring assesses human exposure to chemicals by measuring the
chemicals or their metabolites in human specimens such as blood or
urine. For the ``Report,'' an environmental chemical means a chemical
compound or chemical element present in air, water, soil, dust, food,
or other environmental medium. The ``Report'' provides exposure
information about participants in an ongoing national survey known as
the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). This
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 second
``Report,'' published in January 2003, contained exposure information
on 116 chemicals, including the 27 chemicals in the first ``Report.''
The third ``Report,'' published in July 2005, contained exposure
information on 148 chemicals, including data on the chemicals published
in the second ``Report.'' This ``Report'' can be obtained in the
following ways: access http://www.cdc.gov/exposurereport; e-mail ncehdls @cdc.gov; or telephone 1-866-670-6052. Over time, CDC will be
able to track trends in exposure levels. The ``Report'' is published
every 2 years; the fourth ``Report'' is slated for publication in 2007.
James D. Seligman,
Chief Information Officer, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC).
[FR Doc. E6-7395 Filed 5-15-06; 8:45 am]
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