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IRIS Toxicological Review of Biphenyl (External Review Draft)

Federal Register Notices
Contact
Zheng (Jenny) Li
by phone at:   703-347-8577
by email at:  li.jenny@epa.gov

Notice

EPA has announced the IRIS Toxicological Review of Biphenyl (External Review Draft) in a September 30, 2011 Federal Register Notice, for public review and comment. This FRN also announces a public listening session to be held on November 16, 2011. The deadline for comments is November 29, 2011.

[UPDATE] EPA announces the external peer review meeting for the draft report will be held April 3, 2012 in Arlington, Virgina. [Federal Register Notice Mar 2, 2012]

EPA is conducting a peer review of the scientific basis supporting the human health hazard and dose-response assessment of biphenyl that will appear in the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) database. Please refer to IRISTrack - Biphenyl for the latest schedule updates.

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)

Public Comments

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-2011-0739 (for the docket ID) to comment on this report.

Background
Biphenyl is an organic compound that forms colorless crystals. It occurs naturally in coal tar, crude oil, and natural gas. Biphenyl was once used in the production of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) before they were banned in the late 1970s. It is no longer used as an antimicrobial and a fungicide in the U.S., but it is still used as a fungistat in other countries, most commonly in the packaging of citrus fruits. Today, biphenyl is mainly used in the production of pesticides, as a dye carrier in polyester dyeing, and as a component of heat transfer fluids, which are used for industrial processing applications. Biphenyl is found at multiple Superfund sites and other hazardous waste sites. It is on the list of Hazardous Air Pollutants (HAPs) and is classified as one of the High Production Volume (HPV) chemicals.

History/Chronology

Aug 1989The RfD for 1,1-biphenyl was posted to the IRIS Database.
Mar 1991The cancer assessment for 1,1-biphenyl was posted to the IRIS database.
Sep 2011EPA hosted an interagency science consultation on the review of the draft Toxicological Review of Biphenyl.
Sep 2011EPA released the external review draft of the biphenyl assessment for public review and comment. [Federal Register Notice Sep 30, 2011]
Jun 2012EPA released the comments from the public comment period and external review workshop.

Next Steps

Following external peer review and public comment, the assessment will be revised taking into consideration the comments received. It will then undergo a final internal review by EPA and other federal agencies and White House offices. After completing the review it will be posted to the IRIS database.

Citation

U.S. EPA. IRIS Toxicological Review of Biphenyl (External Review Draft). U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, EPA/635/R-11/005A, 2011.

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