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, also known as phenylethane, is an aromatic hydrocarbon that is present in crude petroleum and gasoline. In addition, it is used in industry primarily as a chemical intermediate in the production of styrene monomer. Ethylbenzene has also been used as an industrial solvent and as a diluent in the paint industry as well as in the manufacture of synthetic rubber, acetophenone, and cellulose acetate. Ethylbenzene is present in naphtha, asphalt, and as an impurity in xylene solvents.

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)

If you have a disability and the format of any material on our web pages interferes with your ability to access the information, please reach out to us using the Contact us about IRIS form for assistance. To enable us to respond in a manner most helpful to you, please indicate the nature of the accessibility problem, the web address of the requested material, your preferred format in which you want to receive the material (electronic format (ASCII, etc.), standard print, large print, etc.), and your contact information.

• 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