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Pesticide News Story: EPA Announces 2nd Part Of Preliminary Risk Assessment For The Wood Preservative, Pentachlorophenol
EPA is announcing the results of the second part of its preliminary risk assessment for the wood preservative, pentachlorophenol (PCP or "penta"). This notice announces the availability of documents that were developed as part of EPA's six-phase public participation reregistration process for hexachlorobenzene (HCB) and dioxins/furans, contaminants of PCP. The Preliminary Risk Assessment (PRA) chapters for PCP were previously released for comment in the Federal Register notice published on November 30, 2004. This notice starts the 60-day public comment period for the PRAs for hexachlorobenzene (HCB) and dioxinsfurans only.By allowing access and opportunity for comment on the PRAs, the Agency is seeking to strengthen stakeholder involvement and help ensure its decisions under the Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA) are transparent, and based on the best available information. This action will provide the public with information on the exposure risks of carcinogens, thereby protecting human health and the environment. The PRAs can be found in OPP Docket 2004-0402. The Federal Register notice for this current action can be found at http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/EPA-PEST/2005/March/Day-30/p6297.htm . The comment period begins on March 30, 2005, and ends on May 31, 2005.