[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 221 (Monday, November 17, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61332-61335]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-30055]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
[ATSDR-130]
Notice of the Revised Priority List of Hazardous Substances That
Will be the Subject of Toxicological Profiles
AGENCY: Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR),
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and
Liability Act (CERCLA or Superfund), as amended by the Superfund
Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA), requires that ATSDR and the
Environmental
[[Page 61333]]
Protection Agency (EPA) revise the Priority List of Hazardous
Substances. This list includes substances most commonly found at
facilities on the CERCLA National Priorities List (NPL) which have been
determined to be of greatest concern to public health at or around
these NPL hazardous waste sites. This announcement provides notice that
the agencies have developed and are making available a revised CERCLA
Priority List of 275 Hazardous Substances, based on the most recent
information available to ATSDR and EPA. Each substance on the priority
list is a candidate to become the subject of a toxicological profile
prepared by ATSDR and subsequently a candidate for the identification
of priority data needs.
In addition to the Priority List of Hazardous Substances, ATSDR has
developed a Completed Exposure Pathway Site Count Report. This report
lists the number of sites or events with ATSDR activities where a
substance has been found in a completed exposure pathway (CEP). This
report has been added to the Support Document of the Priority List.
ADDRESSES: Requests for a copy of the report, the 1997 CERCLA Priority
List of Hazardous Substances That Will Be The Subject of Toxicological
Profiles and Support Document, including the CEP report, should bear
the docket control number ATSDR-130, and should be submitted to: Lydia
Wilcox, ATSDR Information Center, Division of Toxicology, Mail Stop E-
29, 1600 Clifton Rd., N.E., Atlanta, GA 30333. Requests must be in
writing.
Electronic Availability: The 1997 Priority List of Hazardous
Substances will be posted on ATSDR's World-Wide Web server on the
Internet located at http://atsdr1.atsdr.cdc.gov:8080/atsdrhome.html.
The priority list will also be posted on the Federal Bulletin Board on
or near the day of publication of this notice in the Federal Register.
To access the Federal Bulletin Board via the Internet, telnet
fedbbs.access.gpo.gov. This file is available in WordPerfect 5.1, Dbase
III, and ASCII formats.
This is an informational notice only, and comments are not being
solicited at this time. However, any comments received will be
considered for inclusion in the next revision of the list and placed in
a publicly accessible docket; therefore, please do not submit
confidential business information.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: ATSDR, Division of Toxicology,
Emergency Response and Scientific Assessment Branch, 1600 Clifton Road
NE, Mail Stop E-29, Atlanta, GA 30333, telephone 800-447-1544.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: CERCLA establishes certain requirements for
ATSDR and EPA with regard to hazardous substances that are most
commonly found at facilities on the CERCLA NPL. Section 104(i)(2) of
CERCLA, as amended (42 U.S.C. 9604(i)(2)), requires that the two
agencies prepare a list, in order of priority, of at least 100
hazardous substances that are most commonly found at facilities on the
NPL and which, in their sole discretion, have been determined to pose
the most significant potential threat to human health (see 52 FR 12866,
April 17, 1987). CERCLA also requires the agencies to revise the
priority list to include 100 or more additional hazardous substances
(see 53 FR 41280, October 20, 1988), and to include at least 25
additional hazardous substances in each of the three successive years
following the 1988 revision (see 54 FR 43619, October 26, 1989; 55 FR
42067, October 17, 1990; 56 FR 52166, October 17, 1991). CERCLA also
requires that ATSDR and EPA shall, at least annually thereafter, revise
the list to include additional hazardous substances that have been
determined to pose the most significant potential threat to human
health. In 1995, the agencies altered the publication schedule of the
priority list by moving to a 2-year publication schedule, reflecting
the stability of this listing activity (60 FR 16478, March 30, 1995).
As a result, the priority list is now on a 2-year publication schedule
with a yearly informal review and revision. Each substance on the
CERCLA Priority List of Hazardous Substances is a candidate to become
the subject of a toxicological profile prepared by ATSDR and
subsequently a candidate for the identification of priority data needs.
The initial priority lists of hazardous substances (1987-1990) were
based on the most comprehensive and relevant information available when
the lists were developed. More comprehensive sources of information on
the frequency of occurrence and the potential for human exposure to
substances at NPL sites became available for use in the 1991 priority
list with the development of ATSDR's HazDat database. Utilizing this
database, a revised approach and algorithm for ranking substances was
developed in 1991, and a notice announcing the intention of ATSDR and
EPA to revise and rerank the Priority List of Hazardous Substances was
published on June 27, 1991 (56 FR 29485). The subsequent 1991 Priority
List and revised approach used for its compilation was summarized in
the ``Revised Priority List of Hazardous Substances'' Federal Register
notice published October 17, 1991 (56 FR 52166). The same approach and
the same algorithm have been used in all subsequent activities,
including the 1997 listing activity. The algorithm used in ranking
hazardous substances on the priority list consists of three criteria,
which are combined to result in the total score. The three criteria
are: frequency of occurrence at NPL sites; toxicity; and potential for
human exposure.
Since HazDat is a dynamic database with ongoing data collection,
additional information from the HazDat database became available for
the 1997 listing activity. This additional information has been entered
into HazDat since the development of the 1995 Priority List of
Hazardous Substances. The site-specific information from HazDat that is
used in the listing activity has been collected from ATSDR public
health assessments, health consultations, and from site file data
packages that are used to develop these public health assessments. The
new information may include more recent NPL frequency of occurrence
data, additional concentration data, and more information on exposure
to substances at NPL sites. With these additional data, 28 substances
have been replaced on the list of 275 substances. Of the 28 replacement
substances, 10 are new candidate substances, and 18 are substances that
were previously under consideration. These replacement substances and
changes in the order of substances appearing on the CERCLA Priority
List of Hazardous Substances will be reflected in the program
activities that rely on the list for future direction. These changes
reflect the dynamic nature of scientific data on substances present at
NPL hazardous waste sites.
In 1996, an extensive review of the toxicity values (Reportable
Quantities or Toxicity/Environmental Scores) for the candidate
substances was performed. The purpose of this review was to determine
if any new information on the toxicity of the candidate substances had
become available since the substances were first evaluated (most in
1991). As a result, a number of substances had their toxicity values
revised to reflect the new information. Lead is one of the few
substances with a Reportable Quantity (RQ) change that was identified
during this review (changed from RQ of 1 to RQ of 10). Since the
toxicity component of the listing algorithm is based on the RQ, this
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change caused Lead to drop from the number one rank on the priority
list to the number two rank, with Arsenic replacing it at number one.
The 1997 Priority List of Hazardous Substances includes 275
substances that have been determined to be of greatest concern to
public health based on the criteria of CERCLA section 104(i)(2) (42
U.S.C. 9604(i)(2)). A total of 775 candidate substances have been
analyzed and ranked with the current algorithm. Of these candidates,
the 275 substances on the priority list may become the subject of
toxicological profiles in the future. The top 25 substances on the 1997
Priority List of Hazardous Substances are listed below.
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Rank Substance name
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-1.............................. Arsenic.
-2.............................. Lead.
-3.............................. Mercury.
-4.............................. Vinyl chloride.
-5.............................. Benzene.
-6.............................. Polychlorinated biphenyls.
-7.............................. Cadmium.
-8.............................. Benzo (a) pyrene.
-9.............................. Benzo (b) fluoranthene.
10.............................. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.
11.............................. Chloroform.
12.............................. Aroclor 1254.
13.............................. P,P'--DDT.
14.............................. Aroclor 1260.
15.............................. Trichloroethylene.
16.............................. Hexavalent chromium.
17.............................. dibenzo (a,h) anthracene.
18.............................. Dieldrin.
19.............................. Hexachlorobutadiene.
20.............................. Chlordane.
21.............................. Creosote.
22.............................. P,P'--DDE.
23.............................. Benzidine.
24.............................. Cyanide.
25.............................. Aldrin.
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This evaluation activity and announcement of a revised Priority
List of Hazardous Substances fulfills the conditions of CERCLA section
104(i), as amended. ATSDR and EPA intend to publish the next revised
list of hazardous substances in two years, with an informal review and
revision performed in one year. These revisions will reflect changes
and improvements in data collection and availability. Additional
information on the existing methodology used in the development of the
CERCLA Priority List of Hazardous Substances can be found in the
Support Document to the List and in the Federal Register notices
mentioned previously.
In addition to the revised priority list, ATSDR is also releasing a
Completed Exposure Pathway Site Count Report. A completed exposure
pathway (CEP) is an exposure pathway that links a contaminant source to
a receptor population. The CEP ranking is very similar to a sub-
component of the potential-for-human-exposure component of the listing
algorithm. The CEP ranking is based on a site frequency count, and thus
lists the number of sites at which a substance has been found in a CEP.
ATSDR's HazDat database contains this information which is derived from
ATSDR public health assessments and health consultations. Because
exposure to hazardous substances is of significant concern, ATSDR has
been tabulating the substances to which people have been exposed at
hazardous waste sites. Recently much interest has been focused on this
tabulation. Therefore, ATSDR will henceforth publish this CEP report
along with the CERCLA Priority List of Hazardous Substances. Since this
CEP report focuses on documented exposure, it provides an important
prioritization based on substances to which people are exposed.
The substances on the CEP report are similar to the substances on
the CERCLA Priority List of Hazardous Substances. However, there are
some substances that are on the CEP report, because they are frequently
found in completed exposure pathways, but are not on the CERCLA
Priority List because they have a very low toxicity (e.g., sodium).
Since the CERCLA Priority List incorporates three different components
(toxicity, frequency of occurrence, and potential for human exposure)
to determine its priority substances, substances with very low toxicity
are not on the CERCLA Priority List and consequently are not the
subject of toxicological profiles. Of the 100 substances on the CEP
report, the 25 substances found at the most number of sites in a CEP
are presented below.
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No. of sites with
substance in a CEP
Substance name -------------------------
All sites NPL sites
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TRICHLOROETHYLENE............................. 227 213
LEAD.......................................... 206 181
TETRACHLOROETHYLENE........................... 171 157
ARSENIC....................................... 138 121
BENZENE....................................... 121 110
CADMIUM....................................... 102 91
CHROMIUM...................................... 99 91
1,1,1-TRICHLOROETHANE......................... 95 86
POLYCHLORINATED BIPHENYLS..................... 90 79
1,1-DICHLOROETHENE............................ 77 73
CHLOROFORM.................................... 76 73
ZINC.......................................... 76 66
MERCURY....................................... 74 61
1,1-DICHLOROETHANE............................ 71 69
VINYL CHLORIDE................................ 71 69
MANGANESE..................................... 70 60
1,2-DICHLOROETHANE............................ 67 63
METHYLENE CHLORIDE............................ 65 62
VOLATILE ORGANIC COMPOUNDS.................... 61 54
TOLUENE....................................... 60 54
COPPER........................................ 60 51
NICKEL........................................ 53 49
CARBON TETRACHLORIDE.......................... 49 42
BARIUM........................................ 48 43
POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS.............. 47 44
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Note: Sorted by the All Sites column.
ALL Sites = all sites with ATSDR activities; NPL sites = current and
former sites on the National Priorities List, as mandated.
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Administrative Record
An administrative record entitled ATSDR-130 will be established for
materials pertaining to this notice. All materials received as a result
of this notice will be included in the public file available for
inspection from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, except
Federal legal holidays, at the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease
Registry, #4 Executive Park Drive, Suite 2400, Atlanta, Georgia (not a
mailing address).
Dated: November 7, 1997.
Georgi Jones,
Director, Office of Policy and External Affairs, Agency for Toxic
Substances and Disease Registry.
[FR Doc. 97-30055 Filed 11-14-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-70-P
