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ToxSci Advance Access published online on February 28, 2006
Toxicological Sciences, doi:10.1093/toxsci/kfj145
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© The Author 2006. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Toxicology. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org
Received November 11, 2005
Accepted February 20, 2006

Forum

Workshop Overview: Reassessment of the Cancer Risk of Dichloromethane in Humans

Thomas B. Starr 1 *, Genevieve Matanoski 2, M. W. Anders 3, and Melvin E. Andersen 4

1 TBS Associates, 7500 Rainwater Road, Raleigh, NC 27615
2 Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21202
3 University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY 14642
4 CIIT Centers for Health Research, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Thomas B. Starr, E-mail: tbstarr{at}mindspring.com


  Abstract

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) classifies dichloromethane (DCM) as a "probable human carcinogen", based upon its risk assessment conducted in the late 1980's (http://www.epa.gov/iris/subst/0070.html). Since that time, cancer risk-assessment practices have evolved, leading to improved scientifically-based methods for estimating risk and for illuminating as well as reducing residual uncertainties. A new physiologically-based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) model has been developed, using data from human volunteers exposed to low DCM levels, that provides new information on the human to human variability in DCM metabolism and elimination (Sweeney et al., 2004). This information, along with data from other published human studies, has been used to develop a new cancer risk estimation model utilizing probabilistic methodology similar to that employed recently by US EPA for other chemicals (ENVIRON, 2005). This article summarizes the deliberations of a scientific peer-review panel convened on 3 and 4 May 2005 at the CIIT Centers for Health Research in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, to review the "state of the science" for DCM and to critically evaluate the new information for its utility in assessing potential human cancer risks from DCM exposure. The panela, chaired by Dr. Melvin E. Andersen, was composed of experts in xenobiotic metabolism and carcinogenic mechanisms, physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) modeling, epidemiology, biostatistics, and quantitative risk assessment. Observers included representatives from US EPA, CIIT, and Eastman Kodak Company (Kodak), as well as several consultants to Kodak. The workshop was organized and sponsored by Kodak, which employs DCM as a solvent in the production of imaging materials. Overall, the panel concluded that the new models for DCM risk assessment were scientifically and technically sound and represented an advance over those employed in past assessments.


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