US EPA

In September 2017, EPA released the draft IRIS Assessment Plan (IAP) for Ethylbenzene for public review and comment. An IRIS Assessment Plan (IAP) communicates to the public the plan for assessing each individual chemical and includes summary information on the IRIS Program’s scoping and initial problem formulation; objectives and specific aims for the assessment; the PECO (Populations, Exposures, Comparators, and Outcomes) criteria that outlines the evidence considered most pertinent to the assessment; and identification of key areas of scientific complexity. The PECO provides the framework for developing literature search strategies and inclusion/exclusion criteria, particularly with respect to evidence stream (i.e., human, animal, mechanistic), exposure measures and outcome measures.

U.S. EPA. IRIS Assessment Plan for Ethylbenzene (Scoping and Problem Formulation Materials). U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, EPA/635/R-17/332, 2017.

Ethylbenzene is a colorless, flammable liquid with a sweet, gasoline-like odor. It is naturally found in products such as coal tar and crude petroleum. Ethylbenzene is primarily used as a chemical intermediate to produce styrene. In smaller quantities, ethylbenzene is also used as a solvent in common products like rubber, inks, insecticides, paints, and in fuels.

Date	Description
01-Sep 2017	EPA released the IRIS Assessment Plan (IAP) for Ethylbenzene for public comment and review. [Federal Register Notice Sep 18, 2017]
02-Sep 2017	EPA's Science Advisory Board (SAB) Chemical Assessment Advisory Committee (CAAC) held a meeting on September 27-28, 2017 to discuss the assessment. Information regarding the meeting can be found on the SAB website.
03-Apr 2019	EPA suspended the assessment in fiscal year 2019. It may be restarted as Agency priorities change.
04-Jun 2021	This assessments was unsuspended and included in the June 2021 IRIS Program Outlook as a chemical back under development.

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.

• IRIS Assessment Plan for Ethylbenzene (PDF)  (17 pp, 354 KB, about PDF)
• EPA-HQ-ORD-2014-0526
• Memorandum: SAB Chemical Assessment Advisory Committee Briefing on the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) Evolution of Assessment Practices (PDF)  (4 pp, 181 KB, about PDF)

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• SAB Activity Page on the Briefing By NCEA on Development of IRIS Draft Assessments
• IRIS Program Outlook April 2019-Suspended/Discontinued Assessment

• HERO Project Page: Ethylbenzene (Sep 2017)

• FR Notice: Sep 18, 2017