Exposure Characteristics and Types of Studies Providing Evidence of Carcinogenicity
April 4, 2009 Letter from Joan Denton to the Members of the Carcinogen Identification Committee
This letter was sent to members of the Proposition 65 Carcinogen Identification Committee (CIC) from the director of the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment. The letter contains information concerning plans for the CIC’s meeting scheduled for May 29, 2009.
April 3, 2009
Dear (CIC Member):
Recently you received a substantial volume (four 3-inch binders) of materials related to the prioritization of the 38 chemicals to be discussed at the May 29, 2009 Carcinogen Identification Committee (CIC) meeting. In the interest of clarity, I want to articulate how we foresee the meeting proceeding on this item.
At the May 29 meeting, the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) staff will not be making individual presentations on each of these 38 chemicals. Instead:
- Each member has been assigned six or seven chemicals for which they will serve as the lead discussant. In this capacity, each member will be responsible for leading the discussion for those chemicals, and making a recommendation to the Committee as to what priority ranking -- high, medium, low, or no priority -- the chemical should be assigned for purposes of preparing future hazard identification materials. Your review should focus ONLY on consideration of the nature and quality of available evidence relative to all the other chemicals being prioritized since you will not be making a listing decision for any of these chemicals at this point in the process.
- The next step is for the Committee to discuss among themselves the entire list of 38 chemicals and reposition chemicals if needed within the priority ranks.
- Following this discussion, the public will have an opportunity to comment on the ranking within the four categories.
- Finally, the Committee will discuss the rankings again followed by a vote on a recommendation to OEHHA on the priorities for these chemicals.
Although you are designated the lead for your assigned group of chemicals, you should review the information that you feel is relevant, especially in your area of expertise, for all 38 chemicals. A table entitled, “Chemicals for CIC Consultation May 29, 2009. Exposure Characteristics and Types of Studies Providing Evidence of Carcinogenicity,” was enclosed with the materials we sent to you so that you may familiarize yourself with the types of evidence available for each chemical that are suggestive of possible carcinogenicity.
In addition to the prioritization item, the committee is also scheduled to consider Hazard Identification Materials for marijuana smoke and, as appropriate, make a listing decision. We expect the procedures for this item will be comparable to procedures at past meetings for listing decisions. If the prioritization item takes an extensive amount of time and we feel there is not adequate time left for the marijuana smoke item, we will recommend that the item be continued to another CIC meeting to be held no later than August 2009.
Your review and participation will be paramount to a productive meeting. If there is other information that we might be able to provide to help you prepare for the meeting, please contact Dr. Martha Sandy.
Sincerely,
(Original signed copy on file)
Joan E. Denton, Ph.D.
Director