AHS HUMAN EXPOSURE FIELD STUDY PEER REVIEW The United States Environmental Protection Agency's (US EPA) National Exposure Research Laboratory located at Research Triangle Park, NC, the National Cancer Institute, and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences are jointly planning and conducting research to assess farmer and farm family exposures to agricultural chemicals through an interagency program called the Agricultural Health Study (AHS). This is a follow-up meeting to the AHS Human Exposure Survey meeting conducted on February 27-28, 1997, and posted on the Commerce Business Daily on February 20, 1997. The overall Agencys' AHS objectives are designed to identify and quantify the relationship(s) between the health outcomes of farm families relative to their agricultural practices and chemical exposure levels. A pilot AHS field exposure study was conducted during 1994. A five-day exposure monitoring protocol was employed on a total of six farms located in North Carolina and Iowa. The purpose of this pilot study was to assess the resource issues associated with implementing the proposed exposure monitoring protocol and to validate that the resulting data would support the Agencys' objectives for assessing the applicators' and farm families' direct and indirect exposures to the applied pesticides. An external peer review of the results of this pilot AHS exposure field study will be conducted on September 23, 1997, at the Hawthorne Suites, 300 Meredith Drive, Durham, NC. The peer review panel will also be asked to review the joint Agency approved study design for the proposed follow-on AHS field exposure study. The multi-disciplinary peer review panel of experts will be asked to provide EPA with an objective and critical evaluation of the scientific and technical work products associated with the AHS pilot study and to make recommendations that could improve the overall science of any follow-on exposure study(ies). A competitive request for proposals (RFP) is planned for issuance during Fiscal Year 1998. Specific questions regarding the details of the RFP will not addressed or entertained. The RFP is not yet available and requests for the RFP will not be accepted at this time. Another synopsis will be published prior to the issuance of the RFP. This external peer review will be open to the public. Individuals interested in attending the peer review should contact Ms. Shari Pricer (telephone 919 541-2198 or email address "PRICER.SHARI@EPAMAIL.EPA.GOV") NLT Friday, September 19, 1997, to reserve space to attend this open meeting. Parties/organizations requesting that more than one individual attend are asked to list their proposed attendees in order of preference. Individuals/parties interested in providing comments, recommendations, and/or questions for consideration by EPA and/or the panel should mail these items so as to ensure they are delivered to Ms. Shari Pricer, MD-77, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711, (email address "PRICER.SHARI@EPAMAIL.EPA.GOV") NLT noon on Monday, September 22, 1997. Individuals/parties interested in obtaining acopy of the of the peer review summary report should send their request to Ms. Shari Pricer, MD-77, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711 (email address "PRICER.SHARI@EPAMAIL.EPA.GOV"). This notice is being issued pursuant to the Administrative Procedures Act or relevant statues for public comment. E-MAIL: Click here to contact Shari Pricer via e-mail., pricer.shari@epamail.epa.gov.

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