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Workshop Report on Developmental Neurotoxic Effects Associated with Exposure to PCBs
Risk Assessment Forum
On September 14 and 15, 1992, EPA's Risk Assessment Forum sponsored a workshop on the developmental neurotoxic effects of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Participants from academia, industry, and state and federal government brought expertise from a wide range of disciplines to the discussion. The purpose of this workshop was to arrive at a general "sense of the meeting" regarding the current state of the science on neurotoxic effects associated with prenatal and perinatal exposure to PCBs. This report collects workshop papers and discussion on principles and methods for evaluating data from animal and human studies. It also summarizes data and other information discussed at the workshop for characterizing risk to human development, growth and survival and function following exposure to PCBs prenatally or to infants and children.
As presented in the chair's summary, the sense of the meeting seemed to be that, at least in qualitative terms, there is sufficient information to indicate that PCBs cause developmental neurotoxicity. Quantitatively, the sufficiency of the available data was less certain. Additional information that might be used to support the developmental neurotoxicity data in risk assessment includes information on the mix of congeners present in human tissues; data from environmental exposure situations; and data on other types of toxicity that might be relevant. In terms of recommended research, the overwhelming sense of the meeting was that there is a need for more research on the developmental effects of PCBs.
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Note: a complete electronic version of this document that preserves its original appearance (such as in a pdf file format) is not currently available. However, a scanned version is available in image or text format from EPA's National Environmental Publications Information System. Paper copies may be ordered from the National Technical Information Service.
Citation
US EPA. Workshop Report on Developmental Neurotoxic Effects Associated with Exposure to PCBs. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Risk Assessment Forum, Washington, DC, EPA/630/R-92/004, 1993.