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EVALUATION OF THE POTENTIAL CARCINOGENICITY OF BERYLLIUM, BERYLLIUM CHLORIDE, BERYLLIUM FLUORIDE, AND BERYLLIUM NITRATE
Citation:
EVALUATION OF THE POTENTIAL CARCINOGENICITY OF BERYLLIUM, BERYLLIUM CHLORIDE, BERYLLIUM FLUORIDE, AND BERYLLIUM NITRATE. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/8-91/078.
Description:
Beryllium is a probable human carcinogen, classified as weight-of-evidence Group B2 under the EPA Guidelines for Carcinogen Risk Assessment (U.S. EPA, 1986a). vidence on potential arcinogenicity from animal studies is "Sufficient," and the evidence from human studies is "Inadequate." Every soluble beryllium compound that has been tested, including beryllium sulfate, fluoride, oxide, phosphate, as well as beryl ore, zinc beryllium silicate, and beryllium metal has been shown to be carcinogenic. t is therefore considered highly likely that all soluble forms of beryllium including beryllium chloride, beryllium, fluoride and beryllium including beryllium chloride, beryllium, fluoride and beryllium nitrate are carcinogenic in animals. hese three soluble beryllium compounds are therefore assigned to weight of evidence Group B2. he potency factor (F) for beryllium is estimated to be 79.70 (mg/kg/day)-1, placing it in potency group 2 according to the CAG's methodology for evaluating potential carcinogens (U.S. EPA, 1986b). he potency factor (F) for soluble forms of beryllium is based on beryllium sulfate exposure in rats. t is believed that these forms of beryllium would pose a similar hazard to humans. he bioassay used to calculate the potency factor for beryllium chloride, beryllium fluoride and beryllium nitrate suggests that these substances are highly carcinogenic (i.e., all treated animals developed tumors), but because there are no dose groups where the incidence is less than 100% there is no basis for calculating a specific potency factor. ence, all three soluble beryllium compounds are assigned to potency group 1. ombining the weight-of-evidence group and the potency group, in each case, beryllium is assigned a "MEDIUM" hazard ranking for the purposes of RO adjustment, and beryllium chloride, beryllium fluoride and beryllium nitrate are assigned a "High" hazard ranking for the purpose of RQ adjustment.