Notice of Public Comment/Workshops for Draft Chronic Toxicity Summary for Silica (Crystalline, Respirable)
The Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) is releasing a draft document, Chronic Toxicity Summary for Silica (Crystalline, Respirable) to solicit public comment. This draft document has been developed by OEHHA for use in implementing the Air Toxics Hot Spots Program (Health and Safety Code Section 44360). OEHHA developed four Technical Support Documents (TSDs) and a Guidance Manual in response to this statutory requirement, which provided the scientific basis for values used in assessing risk from exposure to facility emissions. The TSD for the Determination of Chronic Reference Exposure Levels (Part III of the TSD series), which has already undergone public and peer review and been adopted by OEHHA, describes the methodology for risk assessment for materials having adverse health impacts following chronic exposures. The present document presents a toxicity summary and chronic REL for crystalline silica, particularly when this material is composed of particles of respirable size (≤10 µm). If approved by the Scientific Review Panel on Toxic Air Contaminants, and adopted by the Director of OEHHA, this document will form a further addendum to the Part III TSD. We are seeking comments on the Chronic Toxicity Summary for Silica (Crystalline, Respirable), including its clarity, and the appropriateness of the methodology and data on which the REL derivation is based. Following this public comment period, the document and any comments received, along with OEHHA's response to these comments, will undergo review by the state's Scientific Review Panel on Toxic Air Contaminants.
The Chronic Toxicity Summary for Silica becomes available on the OEHHA Home Page at http://www.oehha.ca.gov on April 25, 2003. The availability of the document on this site will commence a 30-day public review period that will end on May 23, 2003.
Public workshops will be held in Fresno on May 9, 2003 and in Oakland on May 20, 2003 for the public to comment on the summary. Information on the public workshops are as follows:
DATE and TIME: May 9, 2003 from 10a.m. - 2p.m.
PLACE: San Joaquin Valley Unified APCD
1990 E. Gettysburg Avenue
Fresno, CA 93726
Governing Board Room
DATE and TIME: May 20, 2003 from 10a.m. - 2p.m.
PLACE: Elihu Harris State Office Building
1515 Clay St.
Oakland, CA 94612
Room 234, 2nd Floor
Please direct any inquiries concerning technical matters, availability of the Chronic Toxicity Summary for Silica (Crystalline, Respirable), or written comments to:
Dr. John Budroe
Chief, Air Toxicology and Risk Assessment Section
Air, Community, and Environmental Research Branch
Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment
1515 Clay Street, 16th Floor
Oakland, CA, 94612
E–mail: John.Budroe@oehha.ca.gov
Telephone: (510) 622-3145
Information about dates and agenda for meetings of the Scientific Review Panel can be obtained from the ARB web page at http://www.arb.ca.gov/srp/srp.htm.
- Silica (crystalline, respirable)