Ninth Interim Report of the Subcommittee on Acute Exposure Guideline Levels
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SUBCOMMITTEE ON ACUTE EXPOSURE GUIDELINE LEVELS
DANIELKREWSKI(Chair),
University of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
EDWARDC.BISHOP,
Parsons Corporation, Fairfax, Virginia
JAMESV.BRUCKNER,
University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia
JOHNDOULL,
University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas
DAVIDP.KELLY,
Dupont Company, Newark, Delaware
KANNANKRISHNAN,
University of Montréal, Montréal, Canada
STEPHENU.LESTER,
Center for Health, Environment, and Justice, Falls Church, Virginia
JUDITHMACGREGOR,
Toxicology Consulting Services, Arnold, Maryland
PATRICIAM.MCGINNIS,
Syracuse Research Corporation, Ft. Washington, Pennsylvania
FRANZOESCH,
University of Mainz, Mainz, Germany
RICHARDB.SCHLESINGER,
Pace University, New York, New York
CALVINC.WILLHITE,
State of California, Berkeley, California
FREDERIKA.DEWOLFF,
Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Netherlands
Staff
KULBIRS.BAKSHI, Project Director
KELLYCLARK, Editor
AIDAC.NEEL, Senior Project Assistant
Sponsor
U.S. DEPARTMENT OFDEFENSE
COMMITTEE ON TOXICOLOGY
BAILUSWALKER, JR.(Chair),
Howard University Medical Center and American Public Health Association, Washington, D.C.
MELVINE.ANDERSEN,
Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado
EDWARDC.BISHOP,
Parsons Corporation, Fairfax, Virginia
GARYP.CARLSON,
Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana
JANICEE.CHAMBERS,
Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, Mississippi
LEONARDCHIAZZE, JR.,
Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.
JUDITHA.GRAHAM,
American Chemistry Council, Arlington, Virginia
SIDNEYGREEN,
Howard University, Washington, D.C.
MERYLKAROL,
University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
STEPHENU.LESTER,
Center for Health Environment and Justice, Falls Church, Virginia
DAVIDH.MOORE,
Battelle Memorial Institute, Bel Air, Maryland
CALVINC.WILLHITE,
State of California, Berkeley, California
GERALDN.WOGAN,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Staff
KULBIRS.BAKSHI, Program Director
SUSANN.J.MARTEL, Senior Staff Officer
ELLENMANTUS, Senior Staff Officer
KELLYCLARK, Editor
AIDANEEL, Senior Project Assistant
TAMARADAWSON, Project Assistant
BOARD ON ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES AND TOXICOLOGY1
Members
GORDONORIANS(Chair),
University of Washington, Seattle
JOHNDOULL(Vice Chair),
University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City
DAVIDALLEN,
University of Texas, Austin
THOMASBURKE,
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland
JUDITHC.CHOW,
Desert Research Institute, Reno, Nevada
CHRISTOPHERB.FIELD,
Carnegie Institute of Washington, Stanford, California
WILLIAMH.GLAZE,
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
SHERRIW.GOODMAN,
Center for Naval Analyses, Alexandria, Virginia
DANIELS.GREENBAUM,
Health Effects Institute, Cambridge, Massachusetts
ROGENEHENDERSON,
Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute, Albuquerque, New Mexico
CAROLHENRY,
American Chemistry Council, Arlington, Virginia
ROBERTHUGGETT,
Michigan State University, East Lansing
BARRYL.JOHNSON,
Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia
JAMESH.JOHNSON,
Howard University, Washington, D.C.
JAMESA.MACMAHON,
Utah State University, Logan
PATRICKV.O’BRIEN,
Chevron Research and Technology, Richmond, California
DOROTHYE.PATTON,
International Life Sciences Institute, Washington, D.C.
ANNPOWERS,
Pace University School of Law, White Plains, New York
LOUISEM.RYAN,
Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts
JONATHANM.SAMET,
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland
KIRKSMITH,
University of California, Berkeley
LISASPEER,
Natural Resources Defense Council, New York, New York
G.DAVIDTILMAN,
University of Minnesota, St. Paul
LAURENA.ZEISE,
California Environmental Protection Agency, Oakland
Senior Staff
JAMESJ.REISA, Director
DAVIDJ.POLICANSKY, Associate Director and Senior Program Director for Applied Ecology
RAYMONDA.WASSEL, Senior Program Director for Environmental Sciences and Engineering
KULBIRBAKSHI, Program Director for Toxicology
ROBERTAM.WEDGE, Program Director for Risk Analysis
EILEENABT, Senior Staff Officer
K.JOHNHOLMES, Senior Staff Officer
ELLENMANTUS, Senior Staff Officer
SUSANN.J.MARTEL, Senior Staff Officer
SUZANNEVANDRUNICK, Senior Staff Officer
RUTHE.CROSSGROVE, Managing Editor
PREFACE
Extremely hazardous substances (EHSs)1 can be released accidentally as a result of chemical spills, industrial explosions, fires, or accidents involving railroad cars or trucks transporting EHSs, or intentionally through terrorist activities. Workers and people in communities surrounding industrial facilities where EHSs are manufactured, used, or stored and in communities along the nation’s railways and highways are potentially at risk of being exposed to airborne EHSs during accidental and intentional releases. Pursuant to the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has identified approximately 400 EHSs on the basis of acute lethality data in rodents.
The National Advisory Committee (NAC) on Acute Exposure Guideline Levels for Hazardous Substances has developed acute exposure guideline levels (AEGLs) for approximately 80 EHSs to date. In 1998, EPA and the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) requested that the National Research Council (NRC) independently review the AEGLs developed by the NAC. In response to that request, the NRC organized within its Committee on Toxicology the Subcommittee on Acute Exposure Guideline Levels. The NAC’s Standing Operating Procedures for Developing AEGLs for Airborne Chemicals was reviewed by the subcommittee and published in May 2001. That report provides step-by-step guidance for the derivation of AEGLs for hazardous chemicals. In December 2000, the subcommittee’s first report, Acute Exposure Guideline Levels for Selected Airborne Chemicals, Volume 1, was published by the NRC; volumes 2 and 3 in that series were published in 2002 and 2003, respectively.
The subcommittee meets two to three times each calendar year. At those meetings, the subcommittee hears presentations from the NAC staff and its contractor—the Oak Ridge National Laboratory—on draft AEGL documents. At some meetings, the subcommittee also hears presentations from NAC’s collaborators from foreign countries, such as Germany. The subcommittee provides its comments and recommendations on those documents to NAC in its interim reports, and the NAC uses those comments to make revisions. The revised reports are presented by the NAC to the subcommittee at subsequent meetings until the subcommittee concurs with the final draft documents. The revised reports are then published as appendixes in the subcommittee’s reports.
The present report represents the subcommittee’s ninth interim report. It summarizes the subcommittee’s conclusions and recommendations for improving NAC’s AEGL documents for 13 chemicals: Methanol, acrylic acid, crotonaldehyde, hydrogen sulfide, phenol, cyclohexylamine, ethylenediamine, HFE-7100, carbon monoxide, ethylenimine, propylenimine, allylamine, and chlorine dioxide.
This report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by the NRC’s Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making its published report as sound as
possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process. We wish to thank the following individuals for their review of this report: David Gaylor of Gaylor & Associates and Nancy Kerkvliet of Oregon State University.
Although the reviewers listed above have provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the conclusions or recommendations nor did they see the final draft of the report before its release. The review of this report was overseen by: Judith A.Graham of the American Chemistry Council. Appointed by the National Research Council, she was responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with institutional procedures and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content of this report rests entirely with the authoring committee and the institution.
The subcommittee gratefully acknowledges the valuable assistance provided by the following persons: Ernest Falke and Paul Tobin (both from EPA); Cheryl Bast, Po Yung Lu, Sylvia Milanez, Sylvia Talmage, Claudia Troxel, Annetta Watson, and Robert Young (all from Oak Ridge National Laboratory). Aida Neel was the project assistant and Kelly Clark was the editor. We are grateful to James J.Reisa, director of the Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology, for his helpful guidance. The subcommittee particularly acknowledges Kulbir Bakshi, project director for the subcommittee, for bringing the report to completion. Finally, we would like to thank all members of the subcommittee for their expertise and dedicated effort throughout the development of this report.
Daniel Krewski, Chair
Subcommittee on Acute Exposure
Guideline Levels
Bailus Walker, Chair
Committee on Toxicology
