UV Rays, Fire And Flame Retardants To Be Reviewed For Possible Listing As Carcinogens, NTP Announces

Additional substances to be considered for listing, according to theannouncement, are:

• The fire retardant chemicals 2,2-bis-bromomethylpropanediol and2,3-dibromo-1-propanol, as well as vinyl bromide, a chemical used in the makingof flame-retardant synthetic fibers.
• Vinyl fluoride, used in the production of plastics.
• Two classes of dyes used in textiles, leather, plastic, paper, plasticsand rubber: the dimethoxybenzidine dyes and the dimethylbenzidine dyes.
• Styrene-7,8-oxide, used in preparing fragrances and in some epoxyresins.
• IQ, a substance found in cooked meat and fish.
• Beryllium and beryllium compounds, which will be reviewed for possibleupgrading to "known human carcinogens" from the current listing as "reasonablyanticipated to be human carcinogens."

In an announcement in the Federal Register, the National ToxicologyProgram requested public comment and data relevant to the substances to besubmitted to:

Dr. C. W. Jameson,
NTP Report on Carcinogens,
PO Box 12233,
Research TrianglePark, NC
27709.

Two federal government reviews -- the first by scientists of theNational Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, where the NTP isheadquartered, and the second by scientists from a group of federal agencies --are followed by an outside peer review, held in public.

The Report on Carcinogens is a Congressionally directed listing ofknown and reasonably anticipated human carcinogens. Its preparation isdelegated to the NTP by the Secretary of Health and Human Services. NTP is thenation's major agency for toxicological testing and for developing andimproving toxicological test methods.

Further information may be found in the Federal Register, Volume 64,Number 63, pages 15983-4, and Number 74, pages 19188-9, in which the criteriafor the "known" and "reasonably anticipated" classifications are detailed.