Fourteenth Interim Report of the Committee on Acute Exposure Guideline Levels
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COMMITTEE 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 Infrastructure and Technology, Inc., 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. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
COMMITTEE ON TOXICOLOGY
WILLIAM E. HALPERIN (Chair),
New Jersey Medical School, Newark
LAWRENCE S. BETTS,
Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk
EDWARD C. BISHOP,
Parsons Infrastructure and Technology, Inc., Pasadena, CA
JAMES V. BRUCKNER,
University of Georgia, Athens
GARY P. CARLSON,
Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
MARION EHRICH,
Virginia Tech, Blacksburg
SIDNEY GREEN,
Howard University, Washington, DC
MERYL KAROL,
University of 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
AIDA NEEL, Program Associate
TAMARA DAWSON, Senior Program Assistant
ALEXANDRA STUPPLE, Senior Editorial Assistant
SAM BARDLEY, Librarian
BOARD ON ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES AND TOXICOLOGY1
Members
JONATHAN M. SAMET (Chair),
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD
RAMÓN ALVAREZ,
Environmental Defense, Austin, TX
JOHN M. BALBUS,
Environmental Defense, Washington, DC
THOMAS BURKE,
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD
DALLAS BURTRAW,
Resources for the Future, Washington, DC
JAMES S. BUS,
Dow Chemical Company, Midland, MI
COSTEL D. DENSON,
University of Delaware, Newark
E. DONALD ELLIOTT,
Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, Washington, DC
J. PAUL GILMAN,
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN
SHERRI W. GOODMAN,
Center for Naval Analyses, Alexandria, VA
JUDITH A. GRAHAM,
American Chemistry Council, Arlington, VA
DANIEL S. GREENBAUM,
Health Effects Institute, Cambridge, MA
WILLIAM P. HORN,
Birch, Horton, Bittner and Cherot, Washington, DC
ROBERT HUGGETT,
Michigan State University (emeritus), East Lansing
JAMES H. JOHNSON JR.,
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
DANNY D. REIBLE,
University of Texas, Austin
JOSEPH V. RODRICKS,
ENVIRON International Corporation, Arlington, VA
ARMISTEAD G. RUSSELL,
Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta
ROBERT F. SAWYER,
University of California, Berkeley
LISA SPEER,
Natural Resources Defense Council, New York, NY
KIMBERLY M. THOMPSON,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge
MONICA G. TURNER,
University of Wisconsin, Madison
MARK J. UTELL,
University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY
CHRIS G. WHIPPLE,
ENVIRON International Corporation, Emeryville, CA
LAUREN 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. 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 or 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 150 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 the Committee on Acute Exposure Guideline Levels. The NAC’s Standing Operating Procedures for Developing AEGLs for Airborne Chemicals was reviewed by the committee and published in May 2001. That report provides step-by-step guidance for the derivation of AEGLs for hazardous chemicals. In December 2000, the committee’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; these four volumes contain AEGL documents on 18 chemicals. Thus far, the committee has provided comments on approximately 80 AEGL documents.
The committee meets two times each calendar year. At those meetings, the committee hears presentations from the NAC staff and its contractor—the Oak Ridge National Laboratory—on draft AEGL documents. At some meetings, the committee also hears presentations from NAC’s collaborators from other countries, such as Germany. The committee 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 committee at subsequent meetings until the committee concurs with the final draft documents. The revised reports are then published as appendices in the committee’s reports.
The present report is the committee’s fourteenth interim report. It summarizes the committee’s conclusions and recommendations for improving NAC’s AEGL documents for 16 chemicals: xylenes; acetone; acetone cyanohydrin; carbon disulfide; allyl alcohol; acrolein; chloroform; peracetic acid; n,n-dimethylformamide; carbon tetrachloride; 1,2-dichloroethylene; sulfur dioxide; hydrazine; ethylenimine; propylenimine; and trichloroethylene.
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: Robert A. Goyer, professor emeritus, University of Western Ontario. 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 committee gratefully acknowledges the valuable assistance provided by the following individuals: Ernest Falke, Iris Camacho, and Marquea King (all from EPA); Cheryl Bast, Kowetha Davidson, Claudia Troxel, and Robert Young (all from Oak Ridge National Laboratory); and Jens-Uwe Voss 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 committee particularly acknowledges Kulbir Bakshi, project director for the committee, for bringing the report to completion. Finally, we would like to thank all members of the committee for their expertise and dedicated effort throughout the development of this report.
Donald E. Gardner, Chair
Committee on Acute Exposure Guideline Levels
William E. Halperin, Chair
Committee on Toxicology