EPA Calls for Nominations of Peer Reviewers for Draft Risk Evaluation of the Solvent 1,1-DCA

Released March 20, 2024

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is calling for nominations of scientific experts to serve as letter peer reviewers of the Draft Risk Evaluation for 1,1-Dichloroethane (1,1-DCA). 

EPA is conducting a risk evaluation of 1,1-DCA under the Toxic Substances Control Act. 1,1-DCA is a solvent manufactured for industrial uses. It is used primarily to dissolve paint, varnish, finish removers, and other substances to remove grease, and to make other chemicals. 

EPA is using a letter peer review to obtain comments on the 1,1-DCA draft risk evaluation. Consistent with EPA's Peer Review Handbook, EPA has determined that this is an appropriate mechanism for peer review of this risk evaluation. In this peer review, EPA will seek individual written peer review comments from independent experts, and not a single collaborative or consensus peer review report.  As stated in EPA’s Peer Review Handbook, “a letter review takes place when EPA seeks individual written peer review comments from independent experts, typically in the form of correspondence to EPA from the peer reviewer… Each reviewer evaluates the draft technical work product independently without consultation with other reviewers. No collaborative or consensus peer review report is developed.” When EPA undertakes a letter peer review, it takes steps to ensure that letter peer reviewers only provide comments as individuals without consultation or conversation with other reviewers because such consultations or conversations could be subject to the Federal Advisory Committee Act. 

Nominees for this letter peer review should be scientists who have sufficient professional qualifications to be capable of providing expert comments on the scientific issues for this review. Nominees should have expertise in at least one of the following areas: environmental hazard assessment, human health toxicology, human exposure assessment for industrial hygiene and occupational inhalation exposures, and contaminant concentration estimates in ambient air and/or surface water and sediments using EPA databases. Read the Federal Register notice for additional information.

Upon publication of the Federal Register notice, nominations will be due no later than April 11. Nominations should be submitted via email to OCSPP-PeerReview@epa.gov. When nominating a candidate, do not submit any information you consider to be confidential business information or other information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Members of the public should also be aware that personal contact information, if included in any written comments, may be posted on the internet. 

Prospective candidates will be asked to submit confidential financial information (EPA Form 3110-48; Confidential Financial Disclosure Form), and fully disclose, among other financial interests, the candidate's employment, stocks and bonds, and where applicable, sources of research support. EPA will evaluate the candidates' financial disclosure forms to assess whether there are financial conflicts of interest, appearance of a loss of impartiality, or any prior involvement with the development of the documents under consideration (including previous scientific peer review) before a candidate is considered further.   

The final selection of the reviewers will depend upon the scientific expertise needed to address the letter peer review charge and obtaining a breadth and balance of different scientific viewpoints across the individual reviewers. EPA’s goal is to seek and obtain a balance of professional and scientific perspectives based on academic, clinical, industrial, and consulting (e.g., expert testimony) experiences.

EPA plans to release the draft risk evaluation and related supporting materials for public comment in spring 2024 and will hold a public meeting to review the scope and clarity of the charge questions for the letter peer reviewers in summer 2024. These materials will also be available in docket EPA-HQ-OPPT-2024-0114 on regulations.gov. 

EPA will use feedback received from public comments and the letter peer review to inform the final risk evaluation.   

For more information, view the Federal Register notice. Contact Alie Muneer, Peer Review Leader, muneer.alie@epa.gov with any questions.