US EPA

In August 2013, EPA released the draft literature searches and associated search strategies, evidence tables, and exposure response arrays for RDX 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.

Hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine (RDX, or Royal Demolition eXplosive) is a military explosive with limited civilian uses. In the United States, RDX is produced at Army ammunition plants; it is not produced commercially.

An oral reference dose (RfD) and an oral cancer slope factor are currently available on IRIS. A reassessment of the human health effects of RDX, including both cancer effects and effects other than cancer, is being undertaken.

The U.S. EPA is conducting a new health assessment of RDX that will appear on the Agency's online database, the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS). IRIS is an EPA database containing Agency scientific positions on potential adverse human health effects that may result from chronic (or lifetime) exposure to chemicals in the environment. IRIS contains chemical-specific summaries of qualitative and quantitative health information in support of two steps of the risk assessment process, i.e., hazard identification and dose-response evaluation. IRIS assessments are used in combination with specific situational exposure assessment information to evaluate potential public health risks associated with environmental contaminants.

U.S. EPA. IRIS Toxicological Review of Hexahydro-1,3,5-Trinitro-1,3,5-Triazine (RDX) (Preliminary Assessment Materials). U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, EPA/635/R-13/140, 2013.