Thirteenth Interim Report of the Subcommittee on Acute Exposure Guideline Levels
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SUBCOMMITTEE ON ACUTE EXPOSURE GUIDELINE LEVELS
DONALD E. GARDNER (Chair),
Inhalation Toxicology Associates, Raleigh, NC
DANIEL KREWSKI (past Chair),
University of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
EDWARD C. BISHOP,
Parsons Corporation, Pasadena, CA
JAMES V. BRUCKNER,
University of Georgia, Athens
RAKESH DIXIT,
Merck and Company, Inc., West Point, PA
JOHN DOULL (past member),
University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City
JEFFREY W. FISHER,
University of Georgia, Athens
DAVID W. GAYLOR (past member),
Gaylor and Associates, LLC, Eureka Springs, AR
KANNAN KRISHNAN (past member)
University of Montreal, Quebec, Canada
DAVID P. KELLY,
Dupont Company, Newark, DE
STEPHEN U. LESTER,
Center for Health, Environment, and Justice, Falls Church, VA
JUDITH MACGREGOR,
Toxicology Consulting Services, Arnold, MD
PATRICIA M. MCGINNIS (past member)
Syracuse Research Corporation, Ft. Washington, PA
DAVID A. MACYS,
Island County Health Department, Coupeville, WA
FRANZ OESCH,
University of Mainz, Mainz, Germany
RICHARD B. SCHLESINGER,
Pace University, New York, NY
CALVIN C. WILLHITE (past member),
California Department of Toxic Substances Control, Berkeley
FREDERIK A. DE WOLFF,
Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Netherlands
Staff
KULBIR S. BAKSHI, Project Director
ALEXANDRA STUPPLE, Senior Editorial Assistant
AIDA C. NEEL, Program Associate
Sponsor
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
COMMITTEE ON TOXICOLOGY
WILLIAM E. HALPERIN (Chair),
New Jersey Medical School, Newark
LAWRENCE S. BETTS,
Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk
EDWARD C. BISHOP,
Parsons Corporation, Pasadena, CA
JAMES V. BRUCKNER,
University of Georgia, Athens
GARY P. CARLSON,
Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
JANICE E. CHAMBERS,
Mississippi State University, Mississippi State
MARION EHRICH,
College of Veterinary Medicine, Blacksburg, VA
SIDNEY GREEN,
Howard University, Washington, DC
MERYL KAROL,
University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
JAMES MCDOUGAL,
Wright State University School of Medicine, Dayton, OH
ROGER MCINTOSH,
Science Applications International Corporation, Abingdon, MD
GERALD N. WOGAN,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge
Staff
KULBIR S. BAKSHI, Program Director
EILEEN N. ABT, Senior Program Officer for Risk Analysis
SUSAN N. J. MARTEL, Senior Program Officer
ELLEN K. MANTUS, Senior Program Officer
ALEXANDRA STUPPLE, Senior Editorial Assistant
AIDA NEEL, Program Associate
TAMARA DAWSON, Program Assistant
SAM BARDLEY, Librarian
BOARD ON ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES AND TOXICOLOGY1
Members
JONATHAN M. SAMET (Chair),
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD
RAMON ALVAREZ,
Environmental Defense, Austin, TX
THOMAS BURKE,
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD
JUDITH C. CHOW,
Desert Research Institute, Reno, NV
COSTEL D. DENSON,
University of Delaware, Newark
E. DONALD ELLIOTT,
Wilkie, Farr & Gallagher, LLP, Washington, DC
CHRISTOPHER B. FIELD,
Carnegie Institute of Washington, Stanford, CA
SHERRI W. GOODMAN,
Center for Naval Analyses Corporation, Alexandria, VA
JUDITH A. GRAHAM,
American Chemistry Council, Arlington, VA
DANIEL S. GREENBAUM,
Health Effects Institute, Cambridge, MA
ROBERT HUGGETT,
Michigan State University, East Lansing
BARRY L. JOHNSON,
Emory University, Atlanta, GA
JAMES H. JOHNSON,
Howard University, Washington, DC
JUDITH L. MEYER,
University of Georgia, Athens
PATRICK Y. O’BRIEN,
ChevronTexaco Energy Technology Company, Richmond, CA
DOROTHY E. PATTON,
International Life Sciences Institute, Washington, DC
STEWARD T.A. PICKETT,
Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Millbrook, NY
JOSEPH V. RODRICKS,
ENVIRON Corporation, Arlington, VA
ARMISTEAD G. RUSSELL,
Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta
MITCHELL J. SMALL,
Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA
LISA SPEER,
Natural Resources Defense Council, New York, NY
KIMBERLY M. THOMPSON,
Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA
G. DAVID TILMAN,
University of Minnesota, St. Paul
CHRIS G. WHIPPLE,
ENVIRON Corporation, Emeryville, CA
LAUREN A. ZEISE,
California Environmental Protection Agency, Oakland
Senior Staff
JAMES J. REISA, Director
DAVID J. POLICANSKY, Scholar
RAYMOND A. WASSEL, Senior Program Officer for Environmental Sciences and Engineering
KULBIR BAKSHI, Senior Program Officer for Toxicology
EILEEN N. ABT, Senior Program Officer for Risk Analysis
K. JOHN HOLMES, Senior Program Officer
SUSAN N.J. MARTEL, Senior Program Officer
SUZANNE VAN DRUNICK, Senior Program Officer
ELLEN K. MANTUS, Senior Program Officer
RUTH E. CROSSGROVE, Senior 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. However, it is also feasible that these substances can also be released by improper storage and/or handling. Workers and residents 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 120 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 on specific chemicals, Acute Exposure Guideline Levels for Selected Airborne Chemicals, Volume 1, was published by the NRC; volumes 2, 3, and 4 in that series were published in 2002, 2003, and 2004 respectively.
The subcommittee meets two 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 other countries, such as Germany. The subcommittee provides 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 appendices in the subcommittee’s reports.
The present report is the subcommittee’s thirteenth interim report. It summarizes the subcommittee’s conclusions and recommendations for improving NAC’s AEGL documents for 10 chemicals: 1, 4-dioxane; chloroform; carbon tetrachloride; sulfur dioxide; 1,-2 dichloroethylene; monochloroacetic acid; carbon monoxide; fluorine; methanol; and phenol.
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: Deepak K. Bhalla (Wayne State University), David W. Gaylor (Gaylor and Associates, LLC), and Sam Kacew (University of Ottawa).
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: Sidney Green, Jr. (Howard University). Appointed by the NRC, he 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 people: Susan Martel (Program Officer, NRC Committee on Toxicology), Ernest Falke, Iris Camacho, and Paul Tobin (all from EPA); Cheryl Bast and Robert Young (both from Oak Ridge National Laboratory); and Peter Griem of Germany. Aida Neel was the program associate and Alexandra Stupple 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.
Donald E. Gardner, Chair,
Subcommittee on Acute Exposure Guideline Levels
William E. Halperin, Chair
Committee on Toxicology