US EPA

In September 2017, EPA released the draft IRIS Assessment Plan (IAP) for Chloroform 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.

Chloroform (trichloromethane) is a colorless, volatile liquid with a distinct odor. Chloroform is nonflammable. It is slightly soluble in water and is readily miscible with most organic solvents. Because chloroform is relatively volatile, it tends to escape from contaminated environmental media (e.g., water or soil) into air, and may also be released in vapor form from some types of industrial or chemical operations.

Therefore, humans may be exposed to chloroform not only by ingestion of chloroform in drinking water, food, or soil, but also by dermal contact with contaminated media (especially water) and by inhalation of vapor (especially in indoor air).

This document presents a draft assessment plan for chloroform that will be the subject of an SAB/Chemical Assessment Advisory Committee meeting in September 2017 and that will define the scope and approach of the IRIS assessment for chloroform.

Following the SAB public meeting, the IRIS Program will use the IAP to inform the subsequent development of chemical-specific systematic review protocols.

U.S. EPA. IRIS Assessment Plan for Chloroform (Scoping and Problem Formulation Materials). U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, EPA/635/R-17/330, 2017.