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Priority List for new ATSDR Toxicological Profiles
These ATSDR Tox. Profiles, when completed, are comprehensive, and from my
v. limited experience, seem to have had some political editing to downplay
risks.
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[Federal Register: October 21, 1999 (Volume 64, Number 203)] [Notices]
[Page 56792-56794]
>From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr21oc99-75]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry [ATSDR-155]
Notice of the Revised Priority List of Hazardous Substances That Will Be
the Subject of Toxicological Profiles
AGENCY: Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR),
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and
Liability Act (CERCLA or Superfund), as amended by the Superfund Amendments
and Reauthorization Act (SARA), requires that ATSDR and the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) revise the Priority List of Hazardous Substances.
This list includes substances most commonly found at facilities on the
CERCLA National Priorities List (NPL) which have been determined to be of
greatest concern to public health at or around these NPL hazardous waste
sites. This announcement provides notice that the agencies have developed
and are making available a revised CERCLA Priority List of 275 Hazardous
Substances, based on the most recent information available to ATSDR and
EPA. Each substance on the priority list is a candidate to become the
subject of a toxicological profile prepared by ATSDR and subsequently a
candidate for the identification of priority data needs.
In addition to the Priority List of Hazardous Substances, ATSDR has
developed a Completed Exposure Pathway Site Count Report. This report lists
the number of sites or events with ATSDR activities where a substance has
been found in a completed exposure pathway (CEP). This report is included
in the Support Document of the Priority List.
ADDRESSES: Requests for a copy of the report, the 1999 CERCLA Priority List
of Hazardous Substances That Will Be The Subject of Toxicological Profiles
and Support Document, including the CEP report, should bear the docket
control number ATSDR-155, and should be submitted to: ATSDR Information
Center, Division of Toxicology, Mail Stop E-29, 1600 Clifton Rd., NE,
Atlanta, GA 30333. Requests must be in writing.
Electronic Availability: The 1999 Priority List of Hazardous Substances
will be posted on ATSDR's World-Wide Web server on the Internet located at
http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/99list.html. The priority list will also be posted
on the Federal Bulletin Board on or near the day of publication of this
notice in the Federal Register. The Federal Bulletin Board can be accessed
via the Internet at http:// fedbbs.access.gpo.gov/libs/tsd__frc.htm. This
file is available in WordPerfect, Dbase, and ASCII formats.
This is an informational notice only, and comments are not being solicited
at this time. However, any comments received will be considered for
inclusion in the next revision of the list and placed in a publicly
accessible docket; therefore, please do not submit confidential business or
other confidential information.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: ATSDR, Division of Toxicology, Emergency
Response and Scientific Assessment Branch, 1600 Clifton Road NE, Mail Stop
E-29, Atlanta, GA 30333, telephone 888-442-8737.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: CERCLA establishes certain requirements for
ATSDR and EPA with regard to hazardous substances that are most commonly
found at facilities on the CERCLA NPL. Section 104(i)(2) of CERCLA, as
amended (42 U.S.C. 9604(i)(2)), required that the two agencies prepare a
list, in order of priority, of at least 100 hazardous substances that are
most commonly found at facilities on the NPL and which, in their sole
discretion, have been determined to pose the most significant potential
threat to human health (see 52 FR 12866, April 17, 1987). CERCLA also
required the agencies to revise the priority list to include 100 or more
additional hazardous substances (see 53 FR 41280, October 20, 1988), and to
include at least 25 additional hazardous substances in each of the three
successive years following the 1988 revision (see 54 FR 43619, October 26,
1989; 55 FR 42067, October 17, 1990; 56 FR 52166, October 17, 1991). CERCLA
also requires that ATSDR and EPA shall, at least annually thereafter,
revise the list to include additional hazardous substances that have been
determined to pose the most significant potential threat to human health.
In 1995, the agencies altered the publication schedule of the priority list
by moving to a 2-year publication schedule, reflecting the stability of
this listing activity (60 FR 16478, March 30, 1995). As a result, the
priority list is now on a 2-year publication schedule with a yearly
informal review and revision. Each substance on the CERCLA Priority List of
Hazardous Substances is a candidate to become the subject of a
toxicological profile prepared by ATSDR and subsequently a candidate for
the identification of priority data needs.
The initial priority lists of hazardous substances (1987-1990) were based
on the most comprehensive and relevant information available when the lists
were developed. More comprehensive sources of information on the frequency
of occurrence and the potential for human exposure to substances at NPL
sites became available for use in the 1991 priority list with the
development of ATSDR's HazDat database. Utilizing this database, a revised
approach and algorithm for ranking substances was developed in 1991, and a
notice announcing the intention of ATSDR and EPA to revise and rerank the
Priority List of Hazardous Substances was published on June 27, 1991 (56 FR
29485). The subsequent 1991 Priority List and revised approach used for its
compilation was summarized in the ``Revised Priority List of Hazardous
Substances'' Federal Register notice published October 17, 1991 (56 FR
52166). The same approach and the same basic algorithm have been used in
all subsequent activities, including the 1999 listing activity. The
algorithm used in ranking hazardous substances on the priority list
consists of three criteria, which are combined to result in the total
score. The three criteria are: frequency of occurrence at NPL sites;
toxicity; and potential for human exposure.
Since HazDat is a dynamic database with ongoing data collection, additional
information from the HazDat database became available for the 1999 listing
activity. This additional information has been entered into HazDat since
the development of the 1997 Priority List of Hazardous Substances. The
site-specific information from HazDat that is used in the listing activity
has been collected from ATSDR public health assessments, health
consultations, and from site file data packages that are used to develop
these public health assessments. The new information may include more
recent NPL frequency of occurrence data, additional concentration data, and
more information on exposure to substances at NPL sites. With these
additional data, 17 substances have been replaced on the list of 275
substances. Of the 17 replacement substances, 12 are new candidate
substances, and 5 are substances that were previously under consideration.
These replacement substances and changes in the order of substances
appearing on the CERCLA Priority List of Hazardous Substances will be
reflected in the program activities that rely on the list for future
direction. These changes reflect the dynamic nature of scientific data on
substances present at NPL hazardous waste sites.
The 1999 Priority List of Hazardous Substances includes 275 substances that
have been determined to be of greatest concern to public health based on
the criteria of CERCLA Section 104(i)(2) (42 U.S.C. 9604(i)(2)). A total of
815 candidate substances have been analyzed and ranked with the current
algorithm. Of these candidates, the 275 substances on the priority list may
become the subject of toxicological profiles in the future. The top 25
substances on the 1999 Priority List of Hazardous Substances are listed
below.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rank Substance name
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1.............................. ARSENIC.
2.............................. LEAD.
3.............................. MERCURY.
4.............................. VINYL CHLORIDE.
5.............................. BENZENE.
6.............................. POLYCHLORINATED BIPHENYLS.
7.............................. CADMIUM.
8.............................. BENZO(A)PYRENE.
9.............................. POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS.
10............................. BENZO(B)FLUORANTHENE.
11............................. CHLOROFORM.
12............................. DDT, P,P'-.
13............................. AROCLOR 1260.
14............................. AROCLOR 1254.
15............................. TRICHLOROETHYLENE.
16............................. CHROMIUM, HEXAVALENT.
17............................. DIBENZO(A,H)ANTHRACENE.
18............................. DIELDRIN.
19............................. HEXACHLOROBUTADIENE.
20............................. DDE, P,P'-.
21............................. CREOSOTE.
22............................. CHLORDANE.
23............................. BENZIDINE.
24............................. ALDRIN.
25............................. AROCLOR 1248.
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ATSDR and EPA intend to publish the next revised list of hazardous
substances in two years, with an informal review and revision performed in
one year. These revisions will reflect changes and improvements in data
collection and availability. Additional information on the existing
methodology used in the development of the CERCLA Priority List of
Hazardous Substances can be found in the Support Document to the List and
in the Federal Register notices mentioned previously.
In addition to the revised priority list, ATSDR is also releasing a
Completed Exposure Pathway Site Count Report. A completed exposure pathway
(CEP) is an exposure pathway that links a contaminant source to a receptor
population. The CEP ranking is very similar to a sub- component of the
potential-for-human-exposure component of the listing algorithm. The CEP
ranking is based on a site frequency count, and thus lists the number of
sites at which a substance has been found in a CEP. ATSDR's HazDat database
contains this information which is derived from ATSDR public health
assessments and health consultations. Because exposure to hazardous
substances is of significant concern, ATSDR has been tabulating the
substances to which people have been exposed at hazardous waste sites.
Recently much interest has been focused on this tabulation. Therefore,
ATSDR is publishing this CEP report along with the CERCLA Priority List of
Hazardous Substances. Since this CEP report focuses on documented exposure,
it provides an important prioritization based on substances to which people
are exposed.
The substances on the CEP report are similar to the substances on the
CERCLA Priority List of Hazardous Substances. However, there are some
substances that are on the CEP report, because they are frequently found in
completed exposure pathways, but are not on the CERCLA Priority List
because they have a very low toxicity (e.g., sodium). Since the CERCLA
Priority List incorporates three different components (toxicity, frequency
of occurrence, and potential for human exposure) to determine its priority
substances, substances with very low toxicity are not on the CERCLA
Priority List and consequently are not the subject of toxicological
profiles. Of the 100
[[Page 56794]]
substances on the CEP report, the 25 substances found at the most number of
sites in a CEP are presented below.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Number of sites with substance in a CEP
Substance name
-------------------------------
All sites NPL sites
------------------------------------------------------------------------
LEAD.................................... 298 206
TRICHLOROETHYLENE....................... 277 239
ARSENIC................................. 215 147
TETRACHLOROETHYLENE..................... 206 167
BENZENE................................. 149 116
CADMIUM................................. 148 105
CHROMIUM................................ 146 102
POLYCHLORINATED BIPHENYLS............... 130 96
1,1,1-TRICHLOROETHANE................... 116 97
ZINC.................................... 116 75
MANGANESE............................... 116 73
MERCURY................................. 115 74
COPPER.................................. 101 61
VOLATILE ORGANIC COMPOUNDS, UNSPECIFIED. 99 73
CHLOROFORM.............................. 98 81
1,1-DICHLOROETHENE...................... 94 87
METHYLENE CHLORIDE...................... 93 69
TOLUENE................................. 86 60
NICKEL.................................. 84 59
BARIUM.................................. 82 52
VINYL CHLORIDE.......................... 81 75
1,1-DICHLOROETHANE...................... 80 72
1,2-DICHLOROETHANE...................... 77 66
BENZO(A)PYRENE.......................... 77 46
ANTIMONY................................ 74 50
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: Sorted by the All Sites column.
ALL Sites = all sites with ATSDR activities; NPL Sites = current and
former sites on the National Priorities List, as mandated.
Dated: October 15, 1999.
Georgi Jones,
Director, Office of Policy and External Affairs, Agency for Toxic
Substances and Disease Registry.
[FR Doc. 99-27466 Filed 10-20-99; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4163-70-P
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