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NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competencies and with regard for appropriate balance.
This report has been reviewed by a group other than the authors according to procedures approved by a Report Review Committee consisting of members of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine.
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The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy's purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Bruce Alberts and Dr. Robert M. White are chairman and vice chairman, respectively, of the National Research Council.
The project was supported by the U.S. Army under contract No.DAMD 17-89-C-9086.
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Copyright 1994 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America
Subcommittee to Review Permethrin Toxicity from Military Uniforms
ERNEST EUGENE MCCONNELL (Chair), Consultant,
Raleigh, N.C.
IAN GREAVES,
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minn.
CAROLE KIMMEL,
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C.
RALPH KODELL,
U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Jefferson, Ark.
LOREN KOLLER,
Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oreg.
MICHELE MEDINSKY,
Chemical Industry Institute of Toxicology, Research Triangle Park, N.C.
ANNE WOLVEN-GARRET, Consultant,
Atlanta, Ga.
Staff
KULBIR S. BAKSHI, Project Director and Program Director
RICHARD D. THOMAS, Program Director (until May 1994)
RUTH E. CROSSGROVE, Editor
CATHERINE M. KUBIK, Senior Program Assistant
WANDA J. SMARR, Project Assistant
Sponsor: U.S. Army
Committee on Toxicology
ROGENE F. HENDERSON (Chair),
Lovelace Biomedical and Environmental Research Institute, Albuquerque, N.Mex.
R. HAYS BELL,
Eastman Kodak Company, Rochester, N.Y.
DEAN E. CARTER,
University of Arizona, Tucson, Ariz.
DEBORAH A. CORY-SLECHTA,
University of Rochester School of Medicine, Rochester, N.Y.
CHARLES E. FEIGLEY,
University of South Carolina, Columbia, S.C.
DONALD E. GARDNER,
ManTech Environmental Technology, Inc., Research Triangle Park, N.C.
DAVID W. GAYLOR,
U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Jefferson, Ark.
WALDERICO M. GENEROSO,
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tenn.
IAN A. GREAVES,
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minn.
SIDNEY GREEN,
U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Laurel, Md.
CAROLE A. KIMMEL,
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C.
LOREN D. KOLLER,
Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oreg.
ERNEST EUGENE MCCONNELL,
Raleigh, N.C.
MICHELE A. MEDINSKY,
Chemical Industry Institute of Toxicology, Research Triangle Park, N.C.
ROBERT SNYDER,
Rutgers University, Piscataway, N.J.
BAILUS WALKER, JR.,
University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, Okla.
HANSPETER R. WITSCHI,
University of California, Davis, Calif.
GERALD N. WOGAN,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass.
GAROLD S. YOST,
University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah
Staff of Committee on Toxicology
KULBIR S. BAKSHI, Program Director
RICHARD D. THOMAS, Program Director (until May 1994)
MARVIN A. SCHNEIDERMAN, Senior Staff Scientist
RUTH E. CROSSGROVE, Editor
CATHERINE M. KUBIK, Senior Program Assistant
RUTH P. DANOFF, Project Assistant (until November 1993)
WANDA SMARR, Project Assistant
Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology
PAUL G. RISSER (Chair),
Miami University, Oxford, Ohio
FREDERICK R. ANDERSON,
Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, Washington, D.C.
MICHAEL J. BEAN,
Environmental Defense Fund, Washington, D.C.
EULA BINGHAM,
University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio
EDWIN H. CLARK,
Clean Sites, Inc., Alexandria, Va.
ALLAN H. CONNEY,
Rutgers University, Piscataway, N.J.
JOHN L. EMMERSON,
Eli Lilly & Company, Greenfield, Ind.
ROBERT C. FORNEY,
Unionville, Pa.
ROBERT A. FROSCH,
Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.
KAI LEE,
Williams College, Williamstown, Mass.
JANE LUBCHENCO,
Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oreg.
GORDON ORIANS,
University of Washington, Seattle, Wash.
FRANK L. PARKER,
Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tenn., and Clemson University, Anderson, S.C.
GEOFFREY PLACE,
Hilton Head, S.C.
DAVID P. RALL,
Washington, D.C.
LESLIE A. REAL,
Indiana University, Bloomington, Ind.
KRISTIN SHRADER-FRECHETTE,
University of South Florida, Tampa, Fla.
GERALD VAN BELLE,
University of Washington, Seattle, Wash.
BAILUS WALKER, JR.,
Washington, D.C.
Staff of Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology
JAMES J. REISA, Director
DAVID J. POLICANSKY, Associate Director and Program Director for
Natural Resources and Applied Ecology
GAIL CHARNLEY, Acting Program Director for
Human Toxicology and Risk Assessment (since May 1994)
RICHARD D. THOMAS, Associate Director and Program Director for
Human Toxicology and Risk Assessment (until May 1994)
LEE R. PAULSON, Program Director for
Information Systems and Statistics
RAYMOND A. WASSEL, Program Director for
Environmental Sciences and Engineering
Commission on Life Sciences
THOMAS D. POLLARD (Chair),
Johns Hopkins Medical School, Baltimore, Md.
BRUCE N. AMES,
University of California, Berkeley, Calif.
JOHN C. BAILAR, III,
McGill University, Montreal, Quebec
MICHAEL BISHOP,
Hooper Research Foundation, University of California Medical Center, San Francisco, Calif.
JOHN E. BURRIS,
Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Mass.
MICHAEL T. CLEGG,
University of California, Riverside, Calif.
GLENN A. CROSBY,
Washington State University, Pullman, Wash.
LEROY E. HOOD,
University of Washington, Seattle, Wash.
MARIAN E. KOSHLAND,
University of California, Berkeley, Calif.
RICHARD E. LENSKI,
Michigan State University, East Lansing, Mich.
EMIL A. PFITZER,
Hoffmann-La Roche Inc., Nutley, N.J.
MALCOLM C. PIKE,
University of Southern California School of Medicine, Los Angeles, Calif.
HENRY C. PITOT, III,
University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisc.
PAUL G. RISSER,
Miami University, Oxford, Ohio
JOHNATHAN M. SAMET,
University of New Mexico School of Medicine, Albuquerque, N.Mex.
HAROLD M. SCHMECK, JR.,
Armonk, N.Y.
CARLA J. SHATZ,
University of California, Berkeley, Calif.
SUSAN S. TAYLOR,
University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, Calif.
P. ROY VAGELOS,
Merck & Company, Whitehouse Station, N. J.
JOHN L. VANDEBERG,
Southwestern Foundation for Biomedical Research, San Antonio, Tex.
TORSTEN N. WIESEL,
Rockefeller University, New York, N.Y.
PAUL GILMAN, Executive Director
Other Recent Reports of The Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology
Science and Judgment in Risk Assessment (1994)
Environmental Information for Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Decisions (1994)
Measuring Lead Exposure in Infants, Children, and Other Sensitive Populations (1993)
Health Effects of Ingested Fluoride (1993)
Pesticides in the Diets of Infants and Children (1993)
Issues in Risk Assessment (1993)
Setting Priorities for Land Conservation (1993)
Protecting Visibility in National Parks and Wilderness Areas (1993)
Biologic Markers in Immunotoxicology (1992)
Dolphins and the Tuna Industry (1992)
Environmental Neurotoxicology (1992)
Hazardous Materials on the Public Lands (1992)
Science and the National Parks (1992)
Animals as Sentinels of Environmental Health Hazards (1991)
Assessment of the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf Environmental Studies Program, Volumes I-IV (1991-1993)
Human Exposure Assessment for Airborne Pollutants (1991)
Monitoring Human Tissues for Toxic Substances (1991)
Rethinking the Ozone Problem in Urban and Regional Air Pollution (1991)
Decline of the Sea Turtles (1990)
Tracking Toxic Substances at Industrial Facilities (1990)
Biologic Markers in Pulmonary Toxicology (1989)
Biologic Markers in Reproductive Toxicology (1989)
These reports may be ordered from the National Academy Press(800) 624-6242 or (202) 334-3313
Preface
Military personnel sometimes must be rapidly deployed to areas where life-threatening, insect-borne diseases are prevalent. This places such personnel at an increased risk of contracting diseases such as malaria, scrub typhus, leishmaniasis, and Lyme disease. The suddenness of deployments and movement after deployment often precludes the use of protection or control measures. To protect against specific disease risks from insect bites, the U.S. Army has formulated a clothing impregnant containing permethrin, a pyrethroid insecticide that is effective against disease vectors such as mosquitoes, ticks, and other arthropods. The Army proposes to use permethrin-impregnated fabric to manufacture battle-dress uniforms (BDUs). BDUs, made from either 100% cotton fabric or 50% nylon and 50% cotton fabric, are used to camouflage soldiers.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has classified permethrin as a potential carcinogen, so there might be concern that soldiers wearing permethrin-impregnated BDUs would face an unacceptable level of cancer risk. In response to that potential concern, the Army requested that the National Research Council (NRC) review the toxicological and exposure data and make recommendations regarding long-term exposure to permethrin. This project was assigned to the NRC's Committee on Toxicology (COT). The Subcommittee on Permethrin Toxicity from Military Uniforms was established within COT to perform this task. The subcommittee reviewed the toxicity data as well as the exposure and pharmacokinetic data on permethrin and assessed the suitability of military personnel wearing permethrin-impregnated BDUs on a long-term basis. The report of the subcommittee is intended for use by the Army
in deciding whether to impregnate BDUs with permethrin to protect soldiers from arthropod-borne diseases. The subcommittee in this report also assessed the risk to garment workers who handle permethrin-impregnated fabric.
The subcommittee gratefully acknowledges Lieutenant Colonel Holly Doyne, Colonel Frederick Erdtmann, and Colonel Eric Evenson of the U.S. Army for their interest and support of the project. We also thank other persons who provided information for the subcommittee, including Major Stephen Berté, Lieutenant Colonel Phillip Pierce, Lieutenant Colonel Lyman Roberts, Hubert Snodgrass (all of the U.S. Army), and David Taplin (University of Miami).
We are grateful to the NRC's anonymous reviewers for their many helpful comments and suggestions that have resulted in improvements of the subcommittee's report. This report could not have been produced without the untiring efforts of the NRC staff, including James J. Reisa, director, Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology; Richard D. Thomas, program director, COT; Ruth E. Crossgrove, editor; Wanda Smarr, project assistant; and Catherine Kubik, senior program assistant.
The subcommittee especially acknowledges its great debt to Kulbir S. Bakshi, who not only ably fulfilled the role of project director, but contributed substantially to the drafting and revision of the report. Without his skills and input, our task could never have been completed in the timely manner it has been.
Finally, we would like to thank all members of the subcommittee for their expertise, input, and support throughout our deliberations.
Ernest Eugene McConnell, Chair
Subcommittee to Review Permethrin
Toxicity from Military Uniforms
Rogene F. Henderson, Chair
Committee on Toxicology