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Archived News Release--Caution:
information may be out of date.
For more information call: (202) 219-8151.
The U.S. Department of Laborþs Occupational Safety
and Health Administration (OSHA) today reopened the rulemaking record until
Nov. 24 on its proposed standard for methylene chloride (MC), a probable human
carcinogen widely used as an industrial solvent.
The proposed rule would reduce the permissible worker
exposure to the chemical 20-fold, from the current 500 parts of MC per million
parts of air (500 pm) to 25 pm, averaged over eight hours. OSHA has estimated
that the proposed rule would reduce cancer risk by 95 percent for more than
186,000 workers.
OSHAþs proposed MC risk assessment for cancer was
based primarily on extrapolation from mouse cancer bioassay data. Considerable
data are already available regarding this issue in the rulemaking record.
OSHA is limiting the reopening for comments on recently
conducted studies submitted by the Halogenated Solvents Industry Alliance
(HSIA), which assert that species differences in the enzymatic metabolism of MC
make the mouse a poor surrogate for estimating human cancer risk. The use of
the mouse data in assessing human risk is a critical issue in the MC
rulemaking. The agency is reopening the record to incorporate these studies and
to provide the public with an opportunity to comment on their validity and on
the appropriateness of the conclusions drawn by HSIA.
Interested parties can obtain copies of the newly
incorporated materials upon request to facilitate full and timely public
participation. Requests for copies should be addressed to Christine Whittaker,
Room N3718, Health Standards Programs, OSHA, U.S. Department of Labor, 200
Constitution Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20210; telephone: (202) 219-7174;
fax: (202) 219-7125.
Written comments on the above materials incorporated into
the rulemaking record must be postmarked by Nov. 24, 1995, and submitted in
quadruplicate to the OSHA Docket Office, Docket No. H-071B, Room N2625, 200
Constitution Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20210; telephone: (202) 219-7894.
Notice of the reopening of the rulemaking record for MC is
scheduled to be published in the October 24 Federal Register.
Archived News Release--Caution:
information may be out of date.
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