U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, National Center for Environmental Assessment (MS117), 26 West Martin Luther King Drive, Cincinnati, OH 45268

A -- RISK ASSESSMENT RESEARCH: IMPROVED DATA COLLECTION AND STATISTICAL METHODOLOGIES SOL NCEA-CIN-00-1 DUE 043000 POC Barbara Cook, Fax Number (513) 569-7475 E-MAIL: Click here to email the EPA contact., cook.barbara@epa.gov. Risk Assessment Research: Improved Data Collection and Statistical Methodologies for Estimating and Analyzing Individual Human Exposure/Dose Levels for Waterborne Chemical Exposures and Adverse Reproductive Outcomes Project Synopsis: Previous epidemiologic research studies on reproductive or developmental risks that may be associated with consumption of chlorinated drinking water and disinfection by-products (DBPs) are considered equivocal for many reasons. Some of the between-study differences may be due to unmeasured differences in the type and occurrence levels of mixtures of DBPs and other water exposures of interest. They may also be due to incomplete assessment of all likely routes of exposure to humans. Developing valid and reliable information designed to decrease these exposure uncertainties will aid in interpreting the results of both epidemiologic and toxicologic studies of waterborne chemical exposures, will further develop statistical methodologies for analyzing environmental epidemiologic data sets, and will further develop the scientific approaches for cumulative exposure assessment. These refinements should result in epidemiologic data that can usefully inform a quantitative risk assessment. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, National Center for Environmental Assessment, Cincinnati Office (NCEA-Cincinnati) seeks applications for a cooperative agreement to conduct methodological and/or statistical research, using epidemiologic data, that will contribute to the improvement of human health risk assessment methodologies for non-cancer toxicity from exposure to multiple DBPs in drinking water. Because of the comparatively short time between exposure and outcome, the setting of a reproductive or developmental epidemiologic study provides a useful context to develop and test hypotheses related to various waterborne chemical exposure routes and their impact on risk for the specific health event(s) of interest. Therefore, a successful applicant for this new cooperative agreement will be an otherwise qualified investigator who is currently conducting an ongoing or newly initiated epidemiologic study designed to prospectively investigate specific reproductive or developmental risks that may be associated with exposure to chlorinated drinking water and specific DBPs. Applications submitted in reponse to this advertisement should describe both the study population that is or will be available to the investigator, including endpoints and exposures that will be evaluated in that study, as well as the specific types of methodologic research for improved data collection for multiple exposure routes that could be conducted in the context of the ongoing study. Applications that do not demonstrate that the investigator has direct access to the appropriate study population will not be considered further for this award. Because the development of methods for measurement and analysis of cumulative exposures is a new area of research, there is a relatively broad range of interest areas available for the applicant to explore. For example, potential areas of possible mutual research interest that might be addressed in a cooperative research application might include one or more of the following: the potential for evaluation of DBPs and other chemicals through multiple exposure routes in an existing study cohort; potential for performing methodological research pertaining to the development of questionnaires reflecting accurate assessment of DBPs and other chemicals through multiple exposure routes, including recreational water exposures; developing and testing a set of questions that would separate individuals into meaningful and distinct exposure categories of the above chemicals; potential to measure biomarkers of specific chemicals. The potential for further developing statistical methods appropriate for the analysis of epidemiologic data in this context, including methods for statistically evaluating the results from a related body of literature, could also be explored. Applications must clearly describe theways in which the proposed research is expected to contribute to the improvement of human health risk assessment methodologies for non-cancer toxicity from exposure to multiple DBPs or other chemicals in drinking water. EPA scientists expect to collaborate significantly in the research by providing access to toxicity data and exposure information on DBPs when needed, chemically analyzing water samples, collaborating on epidemiologic questionnaire development, supplying expertise in health risk assessment and epidemiology methods, providing summaries of relevant data, and participating in co-authorship of research publications; therefore applications should clearly identify an EPA role as well as the role of the application writer and institution. The intent of this application process is to develop one three-year cooperative agreement where the principal purpose is to provide support and stimulation to further scientific understanding in this area of research. Through April 30, 2000, written requests only will be taken to obtain a detailed solicitation package. Full Applications must be received by June 30, 2000 and submitted in accordance with the solicitation package. Applications will be thoroughly reviewed and evaluated by guidelines as set forth in the solicitation package. Depending on funding availability, the award is estimated to range from $100,000 to $300,000 total over three years. The U.S. EPA reserves the right not to make any awards from this RFA. Interested applicants must be eligible to receive Federal Assistance under the Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 104(b)(3), the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) Section 1442, and the Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments (SDWAA) of 1996. ONLY STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS, NONPROFIT RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION, INDIVIDUALS, OR NONPROFIT RESEARCH ORGANIZATIONS ELIGIBLE TO RECEIVE FEDERAL ASSISTANCE UNDER THESE ACTS SHOULD SUBMIT A REQUEST FOR A SOLICITATION PACKAGE. Applications from other Federal Agencies are not solicited and will not be accepted. Interested parties may obtain a copy of Solicitation #NCEA-CIN-00-1 by contacting Barbara Cook, USEPA, National Center for Environmental Assessment-Cincinnati Office, MS-117, 26 W. Martin Luther King Drive, Cincinnati, OH 45268, FAX: (513) 569-7475, or email at cook.barbara@epa.gov postmarked no later than April 30, 2000. ORAL REQUESTS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED. Posted 04/04/00 (W-SN440860). (0095)

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