Peer Review of EPA’s Draft Health Effects Documents for PFOS and PFOA
EPA has selected final peer reviewers for the external peer review of the draft documents entitled, “Health Effects Document for Perfluorooctanoic Acid” and “Health Effects Document for Perfluorooctane Sulfonate.” The peer reviewers are charged with reviewing the scientific and technical merit of the EPA draft health effect documents. EPA contractor Versar, Inc. will organize and conduct the external peer review meeting for the EPA draft health effects documents on August 21 and 22, 2014 in Arlington, Virginia. The meeting will be devoted to discussion and deliberation of major issues identified by the peer reviewers regarding EPA’s draft health documents. The public is invited to register to attend this two-day meeting as observers, either in-person or via teleconference. Registered observers may attend and observe the peer review deliberations, but will not be allowed to address the peer reviewers or provide oral or written comments at the meeting.
The public external peer review meeting will be held on August 21 and 22, 2014, beginning and ending at approximately 8:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. (EDT) on both days. The peer review meeting will be held at the Crystal City Marriott at Reagan National Airport, located at 1999 Jefferson Davis Highway, Arlington, VA 22202. The phone number for the teleconference line will be provided to registered observers prior to the meeting. The registration deadline to attend the meeting in-person or via teleconference is August 18, 2014. Space is limited for in-person attendance, and registrations will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. To register for the meeting, please visit http://peerreview.versar.com/epa/pfoa/registration.html, complete the online registration form, and submit the required information.
EPA released the draft health effects documents for Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA) and Perfluorooctane Sulfonate (PFOS) for purposes of public comment (scientific views) and peer review in the Federal Register on February 28, 2014 (http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2014-02-28/pdf/2014-04455.pdf). EPA will consider peer reviewer and public comments when finalizing the documents. Once the health effects documents are finalized, they will be utilized to develop lifetime health advisory values for each chemical. The draft documents, draft charge questions, and public comments submitted during the public comment period may be viewed at http://www.regulations.gov (Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-2014-0138). The draft documents and charge questions may also be viewed at http://peerreview.versar.com/epa/pfoa.
PFOS and PFOA are unregulated chemicals that have been identified, and addressed, by states in a number of individual contamination incidents in recent years. They are included in the third Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR3) along with four other perfluorinated compounds. Early results from UCMR3 have found these chemicals in a small number of the systems sampled (1.9% for PFOA and 1.8% for PFOS).
