THE INVENTORY OF SOURCES OF DIOXIN IN THE UNITED STATES (EXTERNAL REVIEW DRAFT 1998)

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Abstract

Background: In 1992, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) Office of Research and Development (ORD) began an effort to reassess the exposure and health effects associated with Dioxin. As originally conceived and drafted, the exposure portion of the Reassessment did not include an emissions inventory component. In 1992, special workshops were held to provide expert review and comment on early drafts of both the exposure and health components of the Reassessment. Reviewers of these early drafts strongly urged EPA to attempt an emissions inventory using the available data. Responding to this suggestion, an inventory was developed and first published in September 1994 as part of the overall draft Reassessment.

The draft Reassessment underwent reviews by both the public and EPA's Science Advisory Board (SAB). The SAB supported the general approach used to produce the draft inventory, but suggested several changes. Most notably, the SAB recommended that the inventory be specific about the time frame it represents. In response to all of these comments and the availability of additional data, a number of changes have been made to the inventory since the 1994 draft.

These changes have resulted in significant revisions to both the inventory structure and actual emission estimates. Consequently, ORD has decided it would be prudent to conduct an additional round of peer review of the revised inventory before incorporating it into the final Reassessment.