UV Rays, Fire and Flame Retardants to Be Reviewed for Possible Listing As Carcinogens, NTP Announces

UVA, UVB and UVC, the three wavelength groups of ultraviolet light found in sunlight and in varying amounts in artificial light from such devices as sun lamps and sun beds, will be reviewed for possible listing in the federal government's Tenth Annual Report on Carcinogens, National Toxicology Program (NTP) officials said today.

Additional substances to be considered for listing, according to the announcement, are:

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

In an announcement in the Federal Register, the National Toxicology Program (NTP)  requested public comment and data relevant to the substances to be submitted to:

Dr. C. W. Jameson, NTP Report on Carcinogens, PO Box 12233, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709. Comments received by June 3 can be considered by all the review groups.

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

Report on Carcinogens is a Congressionally directed listing of known and reasonably anticipated human carcinogens. Its preparation is delegated to the NTP by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (http://www.hhs.gov/) . NTP is the nation's major agency for toxicological testing and for developing and improving 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 criteria for the "known" and "reasonably anticipated" classifications are detailed.