US EPA

In August 2014, EPA released the second part of draft literature searches and associated search strategies, evidence tables, and exposure response arrays for Cr(VI) to obtain input from stakeholders and the public prior to developing the draft IRIS assessment. Specifically, EPA was interested in comments on the following:

• Draft literature search strategies
• The approach for identifying studies
• The screening process for selecting pertinent studies
• The resulting list of pertinent studies
• Preliminary evidence tables
  • The process for selecting studies to include in evidence tables
  • The quality of the studies in the evidence tables

The literature search strategy, which describes the processes for identifying scientific literature, contains the studies that EPA considered and selected to include in the evidence tables. The preliminary evidence tables and exposure-response arrays present the key study data in a standardized format. The evidence tables summarize the available critical scientific literature. The exposure-response figures provide a graphical representation of the responses at different levels of exposure for each study in the evidence table.

This material is the second of two preliminary packages being released for public viewing and comment prior to a public meeting, providing an opportunity for the IRIS Program to engage in early discussions with stakeholders and the public on data that may be used to identify adverse health effects and characterize exposure-response relationships. EPA welcomes all comments on the draft literature search, preliminary human evidence tables, and preliminary toxicokinetic and mechanistic study information, such as remarks on the following: • the clarity and transparency of the materials; • the approach for identifying pertinent studies; • the selection of studies for data extraction to preliminary human evidence tables; • any methodological considerations that could affect the interpretation of or confidence in study results; and • any additional studies published or nearing publication that may provide data for the evaluation of human health hazard or dose-response relationships.

U.S. EPA. IRIS Toxicological Review of Hexavalent Chromium Part 2: Human, Toxicokinetic, and Mechanistic Studies (Preliminary Assessment Materials, 2014). U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, EPA/635/R-14/218, 2014.