Panel on International Toxicity Estimates for Risk
To Discuss Three Chemicals in March

By Mary Bryant, RiskWorld staff
E-mail to: bryant@tec-com.com

February 26, 1997 -- Toxicology Excellence for Risk Assessment (TERA), a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the science and practice of risk assessment, will hold the first quarterly peer review meeting of 1997 for its International Toxicity Estimates for Risk (ITER) project on March 6 and 7 at the University of Cincinnati’s College of Medicine in Cincinnati, Ohio. The agenda (see announcement) includes assessments for cadmium and perchlorate and a discussion of issues for dichloromethane (methylene chloride).

"The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) will present a cadmium inhalation reference concentration for protecting human health from the non-cancer effects of inhaling cadmium," said Jacqueline Patterson, ITER project leader. "TERA will present a review of a perchlorate oral reference dose." Perchlorate Study Group, a group of companies with issues and concerns regarding perchlorate, is sponsoring TERA’s presentation. In addition, Health Canada, a department of the Canadian government, will lead a brief discussion on interspecies metabolic issues related to the carcinogenicity of dichloromethane, she said.

The ITER database currently compares risk values from Health Canada, U.S. EPA, and the U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) for 38 chemicals (39 with acrylonitrile, which TERA expects to add to the database this week), enabling users to access and compare available values with one search. The peer review meetings give independent groups an opportunity to add information to the database pending the review panel’s approval. The database, a description of the peer review program, a list of reviewers, and summaries of past peer review meetings (including notes from the December 1996 meeting) are on the Internet at http://www.tera.org/iter/.

TERA has tentatively scheduled the remaining quarterly ITER peer review meetings of 1997 during early June, September, and December, with agendas to be announced.

Limited space is still available for observers who would like to attend the March meeting, which requires pre-registration by Friday, February 28, and a $25 registration fee. For more information, contact Jacqueline Patterson by telephone (513) 521-7426 or e-mail patterson@tera.org .

Editor’s note: Cadmium has many uses in industry and is used in consumer products such as batteries, pigments, metal coating, and plastics.

Perchlorate compounds have been widely used as solid rocket propellants and ignitable sources in munitions and fireworks and have contaminated soils and groundwater in some areas where they have been used—locations which might require perchlorate remediation, according to TERA documentation.

Dichloromethane is used as a paint remover, a blowing agent for foam production, and a component in aerosols. In an assessment report issued in 1993, the Canadian government evaluated dichloromethane and other substances to determine if they were "toxic" as defined by the Canadian Environmental Protection Act. The ITER peer review meeting discussion will consider issues and data, submitted after that assessment, on whether the mouse is an appropriate model for the carcinogenicity of dichloromethane in humans.

Link to related story

On-line interview with TERA founder Michael L. Dourson

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