US EPA

On September 28, 2010, the Toxicological Review of Urea and the charge to external peer reviewers were released for external peer review and public comment. The Toxicological Review and charge were reviewed internally by EPA and by other federal agencies and White House Offices before public release. In the new IRIS process, introduced by the EPA Administrator, all written comments on IRIS assessments submitted by other federal agencies and White House Offices will be made publicly available. Accordingly, interagency comments and the interagency science consultation draft of the IRIS Toxicological Review of Urea and the charge to external peer reviewers are posted on this site.

The draft Toxicological Review of Urea provides scientific support and rationale for the hazard and dose-response assessment pertaining to chronic exposure to Urea. Urea, also known as carbamide, is an endogenous product of protein and amino acid catabolism. It can also be produced synthetically by combining ammonia, carbon monoxide, and sulfur in methanol. Urea is utilized in diesel selective catalyst reduction, in fertilizers and animal feed, plastics, flame-proofing agents, adhesives, flavoring agents and consumer goods such as liquid soaps, detergents and household cleaning products.

The draft Toxicological Review of Urea provides scientific support and rationale for the hazard and dose-response assessment pertaining to chronic exposure to Urea.

Following external peer review the assessment will be revised taking into consideration external peer review and public comments. It will then undergo a final EPA internal review and a review by other federal agencies and White House offices, followed by posting to the IRIS Web site.

U.S. EPA. IRIS Toxicological Review of Urea (Interagency Science Consultation Draft) . U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, EPA/635/R-10/005C, 2010.