EPA Releases Plan for New Health Risk Assessment for Cobalt
EPA released its draft plan for IRIS cancer assessment for inhalation of cobalt that takes a “no safe-level” approach inconsistent with the consensus from other available studies.
The agency recently released its draft plan for an extensive new health evaluation for cobalt inhalation and will focus its assessment on water-soluble and water-insoluble cobalt compounds.
EPA officials indicated that it plans to carry out a cancer assessment that will likely be more stringent and generate new risk values that could drive additional future restrictions on cobalt use, much like the current hexavalent chromium evaluation under review by the agency.
The agency also recently announced a public meeting in January to discuss several matters related to its approach on inhalation risks from cobalt, including scientific complexities associated with the effort.
If you have any questions or would like additional information regarding this issue, please contact Christian Richter or Jeff Hannapel with NASF at crichter@thepolicygroup.com or jhannapel@thepolicygroup.com.
This update is courtesy of the National Association for Surface Finishing (NASF). For more information or to become a member, visit nasf.org.
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