The potential impact of the NIOSH chemical carcinogen policy on NIOSH recommendations

Details

• Personal Author:
  Daniels, Robert D. ; Howard J ; Lentz, Thomas J. ; MacMahon, Kathleen ; Piacentino, John ; Schulte, Paul A. ; Whittaker C
• Description:
  NIOSH has published the Current Intelligence Bulletin: NIOSH Chemical Carcinogen Policy to address three issues: carcinogen classification, how NIOSH risk management limits are set and how information on the analytical limit of quantification (LOQ) is used in NIOSH recommendations. The classification policy updates current practice to allow NIOSH to adopt chemical carcinogen classifications from the National Toxicology Program, the Environmental Protection Agency and the International Agency for Research on Cancer. The risk management limit policy updates the risk level at which NIOSH recommendations are set and redefines NIOSH recommendations as risk management limits for carcinogens (RML-CA). Historically, NIOSH issued recommended exposure limits (RELs) for carcinogens based on an excess risk of level of 1 in 1,000 in a working lifetime, while still acknowledging that there is no safe level of exposure to carcinogens. Under a new policy, NIOSH may set RML-CAs at the concentration corresponding to the 95% lower confidence limit of the 1 in 10,000 risk estimate, but only when occupational measurement of the carcinogen at the RML-CA is analytically feasible. To understand the impact of these potential changes on future NIOSH recommendations, preliminary risk assessments were conducted on 20 chemicals with sufficient data for analysis but without a current numerical REL. The 95% confidence limits for the 1 in 10,000 risk level were calculated and the result was compared with a 1 in 1000 risk level and with the analytical LOQ. The LOQ for 50% of the chemicals analyzed was greater than the lower 95% confidence limit on 1 in 10,000 risk. When compared to the lower 95% confidence limit of 1 in 1000 risks for these same chemicals, the LOQ was greater than the lower 95% confidence limit only 30% of the time. Although this analysis represents a limited sample size, it shows that a subset of NIOSH RML-CAs can be set based on the analytical LOQ rather than the risk estimate. It is therefore critically important that the risks at the RML-CA are communicated to end users. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Carcinogens Chemistry Chemistry, Analytic Hazardous Substances Neoplasms Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Risk Assessment Safety Toxicology
• Keywords:
  Analytical Chemistry Analytical Processes Cancer Carcinogen Policy Chemical Agents Chemical Analysis Chemical Hazards Chemicals Current Intelligence Bulletins Employee Exposure Exposure Limits Information Processing Information Retrieval Systems Occupational Cancers Occupational Exposure Quantitative Risk Assessment Recommendations Recommended Exposure Limits RELs Risk Assessment Risk Management Toxic Materials

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• ISSN:
  1096-6080
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Abstract or Summary
• Place as Subject:
  District of Columbia ; Maryland ; Ohio ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  EID - Education and Information Division ; OD - Office of the Director
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  156
• Issue:
  1
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20049441
• Citation:
  Toxicologist 2017 Mar; 156(1):279
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2017
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  The Toxicologist. Society of Toxicology 56th Annual Meeting and ToxExpo, March 12-16, 2017, Baltimore, Maryland
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:df3361982854d0fea2af72ba88ea0d061b756f885edc3e0f5723feb7d192d45cc4b7bb9bbfa258c14052f90a7ec733c19a555f02c19621a509727744469c5928
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/203886/cdc_203886_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 945.12 KB ]