Environmental Protection Agency November 29, 2007 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing an external peer-review workshop to review the external review draft document titled, ``An Exploratory Study: Assessment of Modeled Dioxin Exposure in Ceramic Art Studios'' (EPA/600/R-06/044A). The draft document was prepared by the National Center for Environmental Assessment (NCEA) within EPA's Office of Research and Development. The purpose of this report is to describe an exploratory investigation of potential dioxin exposures to artists/ hobbyists who use ball clay to make pottery and related products. Dermal, inhalation and ingestion exposures to clay were measured at the ceramics art department of Ohio State University in Columbus, OH. Estimates of exposure were made based on measured levels of clay in the studio air, deposited on surrogate food samples and on the skin of artists. EPA is releasing this draft document solely for the purpose of pre-dissemination peer review under applicable information quality guidelines. This document has not been formally disseminated by EPA. It does not represent and should not be construed to represent any Agency policy or determination. On October 4, 2007, EPA announced a 45-day public comment period on the draft document (72 FR 56756). The public comment period has closed as of November 19, 2007. The public comment period and the external peer-review panel workshop are separate processes that provide opportunities for all interested parties to comment on the document. All public comments submitted have been forwarded to EPA's contractor, Eastern Research Group, Inc. (ERG), and provided to the external peer- review panel members prior to the workshop for consideration during discussions at the workshop. In preparing a final report, EPA will consider the public comments submitted to EPA's docket during the public comment period, and the comments and, recommendations from the external peer-review workshop, including any oral public comments made at the workshop.