Ad Hoc Panel Nominations for VCCEP Peer Consultation on Ethylbenzene To Close December 4. In anticipation of scheduling a Voluntary Children's Identification Program (VCCEP) peer consultation meeting on ethyl benzene (100-41-4) in early 2007, Toxicology Excellence for Risk Assessment (TERA) is accepting nominations for ad hoc panel members for this peer consultation through Monday, December 4, 2006. Read the complete announcement for more information. (released 10/30/06, posted 11/14/06)

 

CAMEO® 20 Year Anniversary Conference Cancelled. With so many potential conference attendees unable to attend because of their involvement with hurricane preparedness or natural disasters, the CAMEO® (Computer-Aided Management of Emergency Operations) Conference Committee has cancelled the CAMEO® 20 Year Anniversary Conference, which was to be held October 30-November 1, 2006, in Houston, Texas. Information about receiving registration refunds and cancelling hotel reservation is available on line. For more information about CAMEO®, go to http://www.epa.gov/ceppo/cameo/. (posted 9/7/06)

 

U.S. EPA Assistant Administrator for the Office of Research and Development To Speak at Midwestern States Risk Assessment Symposium. George Gray, the U.S. EPA assistant administrator for the Office of Research and Development (ORD), will present the keynote address at the Midwestern States Risk Assessment Symposium, which will be held August 21-24 at the Hyatt-Regency Hotel in Indianapolis, Indiana. He will discuss several innovative efforts underway in ORD to enhance the scientific robustness and utility of the Integrated Risk Information Systems database. The symposium will focus on the complex toxicology and cleanup issues surrounding the chlorinated solvents trichloroethylene and perchloroethylene, issues of national concern that will have a major impact on environmental policy in the coming years. The agenda includes continuing education opportunities on August 21 and 22, with Henry Schuver of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and John Clark of the Indiana Department of Environmental Management conducting a soil gas sampling workshop and Jay Zhao and Lynne Haber of Toxicology Excellence for Risk Assessment (TERA) conducting classes on dosimetry, cancer and non-cancer risk assessment, and benchmark dose; platform presentations and panel discussions by some of the top scientists and policy makers in the United States; a vendor exhibit; and a poster session on chlorinated solvents and other environmental topics on August 23 (new date). Go to the symposium web site for more information and to register. (posted 5/4/06; updated 8/6/06)

 

CAMEO Team Requests User Response. CAMEO, a system of software applications that the U.S. EPA Chemical Emergency Preparedness and Prevention Office and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Office of Response and Restoration developed to assist front-line chemical emergency planners and responders, marks its 20th anniversary in 2006. As part of the celebration, the CAMEO team is requesting CAMEO users to share how they have used the software over the years. If you can relate how CAMEO has become a trusted tool or how you have used CAMEO during an incident response or in an unusual way for a planning project, send your stories and CAMEO-related photographs to ORR.CAMEO@noaa.gov, indicating whether your story or photograph and your name and affiliation may be published on the CAMEO website at http://www.epa.gov/ceppo/cameo/ and the CAMEO News Service listserve. (Information that must remain anonymous is also acceptable.) (posted 5/23/06)

 

CAST Counters Flu Pandemic Sensationalism with Facts. John Bonner, executive vice president of the Council for Agricultural Science and Technology (CAST), asked for help this week with getting the word out about information that can help prepare individuals and organizations "to act rather than react" as the world focuses on the potential for an avian influenza pandemic. CAST recently published two papers, written for a general audience, on the impacts of an avian influenza pandemic and is offering them for viewing and downloading without charge from their website. Avian Influenza: Human Pandemic Concerns addresses the current situation, evaluates the structure and function of avian influenza viruses, outlines pandemic risk assessment, and provides references and selected websites for more detailed information. Avian Influenza: Trade Issues focuses on the potential impacts that a pandemic outbreak of high-pathogenic avian influenza would have on the international poultry and feed grains trade. In addition, CAST recommends a recently completed report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Pandemic Influenza Planning: A Guide for Individuals and Families, which provides an overview of common sense actions that citizens can take to prepare for a potential pandemic (download PDF version). Headquartered in Ames, Iowa, CAST assembles, interprets, and communicates credible, science-based information regionally, nationally, and internationally to legislators, regulators, policymakers, the media, the private sector, and the public. (posted 5/5/06)

 

What Is Your Risk IQ? Harvard University’s Center for Risk Analysis offers a quick risk quiz on the home page of its web site, asking the annual risk of dying from 14 hazards. Before you visit the web site, jot the order (from highest to lowest risk) of the following, then see if you’re close: cancer, fire, heart disease, lightning, bioterrorism, bicycle accident, stroke, accidents of all kinds, alcohol, homicide, drowning, food poisoning, Alzheimer’s disease, and suicide. At the very least, see if you’re correct in guessing which of these hazards poses the greatest risk and which poses the least. While you’re at the center’s web site, check out its latest online issue of Risk in Perspective, in which Harvard staff and invited authors explore issues of interest in risk and decision science. (posted 5/4/06)