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IRIS Toxicological Review of Ethyl Tertiary Butyl Ether (External Review Draft)

Federal Register Notices
Contact
Andrew Rooney
by phone at:   919-541-1492
by email at:  rooney.andrew@epa.gov
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Notice

EPA announces the public listening session in a September 23, 2009 Federal Register Notice.

EPA announces the release of the Toxicological Review of Ethyl Tertiary Butyl Ether in the August 20, 2009 Federal Register Notice. This draft assessment is provided for public viewing and comment. Public comments received on the Toxicological Review within 60 days after the release of the FRN will be provided to the external peer reviewers for their consideration. Any comments not received within the requested time period will be considered by EPA in their revisions. The date and location of the External Peer Review meeting will be provided in a separate announcement.

EPA is conducting a peer review of the scientific basis supporting the human health hazard and dose-response assessment of ethyl tertiary butyl ether (ETBE) that will appear on the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) database.
Background
The draft Toxicological Review of Ethyl Tertiary Butyl Ether provides scientific support and rationale for the hazard and dose-response assessment pertaining to chronic exposure to ethyl tertiary butyl ether. Ethyl tertiary butyl ether is used as a fuel additive for gasoline to increase octane rating and has been used to meet air pollution reduction goals under the Clean Air Act. The use of ether oxygenates such as ethyl tertiary butyl ether in reformulated gasoline in the United States was effectively eliminated in 2006; however, use and production of these oxygenates has continued for the purpose of increasing octane rating in gasoline. Ethyl tertiary butyl ether has been used extensively in Europe and may be used as a substitute to replace the volume and oxygenate properties of methyl tertiary butyl ether, an oxygenate widely used in the United States prior to 2006. Plastic plumbing pipe, particularly silane cross-linked polyethylene (PEX), represents an additional potential source of ethyl tertiary butyl ether in drinking water.

History/Chronology

2004The IRIS Assessment of ethyl tertiary butyl ether was initiated in 2004.
Aug 2009EPA released the ETBE external review draft for public review and comment.
Oct 2009EPA announces a public listening session to be held on October 7, 2009 as explained in the September 23, 2009 Federal Register Notice.

Next Steps

Following the External Peer Review, the final assessment will be published on the IRIS database.

Downloads/Related Links

This download(s) is distributed solely for the purpose of pre-dissemination peer review under applicable information quality guidelines. It has not been formally disseminated by EPA. It does not represent and should not be construed to represent any Agency determination or policy.

Related Link(s)

Additional Information

Comments on the assessment may be submitted and reviewed using the e-Government Regulations.gov Web site. From the site, select “Environmental Protection Agency” and the keyword “EPA-HQ-ORD-2009-0229” (for the docket ID) to comment on this report.

Note: On August 31, 2009, EPA posted an updated version of the report that includes an update on pages 40-45 of 9 missing lines due to a figure placement. Please contact the email or phone listed under contacts for more specific information.

Citation

U.S. EPA. IRIS Toxicological Review of Ethyl Tertiary Butyl Ether (External Review Draft). U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, EPA/635/R-08/019A, 2009.
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