[Federal Register: November 14, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 220)]
[Notices]
[Page 64610]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr14no03-58]
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CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION
Public Meeting Concerning Petition for Rule Declaring Natural
Rubber Latex a Strong Sensitizer
AGENCY: Consumer Product Safety Commission.
ACTION: Notice of public meeting.
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SUMMARY: The Consumer Product Safety Commission (``CPSC'' or
``Commission'') will conduct a public meeting on December 10, 2003, to
receive comments concerning Petition HP 00-2, which requested that the
Commission declare natural rubber latex (``NRL'') to be a strong
sensitizer under the Federal Hazardous Substances Act (``FHSA''). The
CPSC staff's briefing package recommends that the Commission deny the
petition. The Commission invites oral presentations from members of the
public with information or comments related to the petition or the
staff's briefing package. The Commission will consider these
presentations as it decides what action to take on the petition.
DATES: The meeting will begin at 10 a.m. on December 10, 2003. Requests
to make oral presentations, and 10 copies of the text of the
presentation, must be received by the CPSC Office of the Secretary no
later than December 3, 2003. Persons making presentations at the
meeting should provide an additional 25 copies for dissemination on the
date of the meeting.
The Commission reserves the right to limit the number of persons
who make presentations and the duration of their presentations. To
prevent duplicative presentations, groups will be directed to designate
a spokesperson.
Written submissions, in addition to, or instead of, an oral
presentation may be sent to the address listed below and will be
accepted until January 10, 2003.
ADDRESSES: The meeting will be in room 420 of the Bethesda Towers
Building, 4330 East-West Highway, Bethesda, MD. Requests to make oral
presentations, and texts of oral presentations should be captioned
``Latex Petition Briefing'' and be mailed to the Office of the
Secretary, Consumer Product Safety Commission, Washington, DC 20207, or
delivered to that office, room 502, 4330 East-West Highway, Bethesda,
Maryland 20814. Requests and texts of oral presentations may also be
submitted by facsimile to (301) 504-0127 or by e-mail to cpsc-os@cpsc.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information about the purpose or
subject matter of this meeting contact Suzanne Barone, Ph.D.,
Directorate for Health Sciences, U.S. Consumer Product Safety
Commission, Washington, DC 20207; telephone (301) 504-7256; e-mail: sbarone@cpsc.gov. For information about the schedule for submission of
requests to make oral presentations and submission of texts of oral
presentations, contact Rockelle Hammond, Office of the Secretary,
Consumer Product Safety Commission, Washington, DC 20207; telephone (301) 504-6833; fax (301) 504-0127; e-mail rhammond@cpsc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
A. Background
The Commission received a petition from Debi Adkins, editor of
Latex Allergy News, requesting that the Commission issue a rule
declaring natural rubber latex (``NRL'') to be a strong sensitizer
under the Federal Hazardous Substances Act (``FHSA'') and that consumer
products containing NRL be labeled. The petitioner asserts that a
portion of the population has developed an allergy to NRL that can
cause serious allergic reactions, even death. NRL may be in such
consumer products as gloves, adhesives, shoes, balloons, pacifiers, and
carpet backing, as well as many medical products.
The Commission published a notice in the Federal Register on March
21, 2000, requesting comments on the petition. 65 FR 15133. The
Commission extended the comment period 30 days. 65 FR 33525. The
Commission received a total of 85 comments on the petition.
The staff reviewed the petition, comments and other relevant
available information. The staff then forwarded a briefing package to
the Commission, which is available on the Commission's Web site
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leavingFR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.cpsc.gov or from the Commission's Office of the Secretary. The
staff recommends that the Commission deny the petition. The staff
concludes that available data do not support that NRL is a strong
sensitizer as that term is defined in the FHSA. Current scientific
information about the development of NRL allergy from consumer products
that contain NRL is limited, and it does not appear that the
information will be developed in the near future.
The FHSA defines the term ``strong sensitizer'' as a ``substance
which will cause on normal living tissue through an allergic or
photodynamic process a hypersensitivity which becomes evident on
reapplication of the same substance'' and which the Commission declares
to be a strong sensitizer. 15 U.S.C. 1261(k). The FHSA definition
further states that before making such a declaration, and ``upon
consideration of the frequency of occurrence and severity of the
reaction, [the Commission] shall find that the substance has a
significant potential for causing hypersensitivity.'' Id.
B. The Public Meeting
The purpose of the public meeting is to provide a forum for oral
presentations on the NRL petition and the CPSC staff briefing package.
Participation in the meeting is open. See the DATES section of this
notice for information on making requests to give oral presentations at
the meeting and on making written submissions.
Dated: November 7, 2003.
Todd A. Stevenson,
Secretary, Consumer Product Safety Commission.
[FR Doc. 03-28458 Filed 11-13-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6355-01-P