Proposed Data Collections Submitted for Public Comment and Recommendations

In compliance with the requirement of Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 for opportunity for public comment on proposed data collection projects, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will publish periodic summaries of proposed projects. To request more information on the proposed projects or to obtain a copy of the data collection plans and instruments, call 404-639-7570 and send comments to Ron Otten, at CDC 1600 Clifton Road, MS-D74, Atlanta, GA 30333 or send an email to omb@cdc.gov.

Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the information shall have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of information; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on respondents, including through the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology. Written comments should be received within 60 days of this notice.

Proposed Project

NCEH/ATSDR Exposure Investigations (EIs) [OMB NO: 0923-0040, Expiration Date 11/30/2012]—Revision—The National Center for Environmental Health (NCEH), and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Background and Brief Description

This is a brief summary of a joint clearance between the NCEH and ATSDR, (hereafter ATSDR will represent both ATSDR and NCEH). ATSDR is mandated pursuant to the 1980 Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) and its 1986 Amendments, the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA) to prevent or mitigate adverse human health effects and diminished quality of life resulting from the exposure to hazardous substances in the environment. EIs are an approach developed by ATSDR that employs targeted biologic (e.g., urine, blood, hair samples) and environmental (e.g., air, water, soil, or food) sampling to determine whether people are or have been exposed to unusual levels of pollutants at specific locations (e.g., where people live, spend leisure time, or anywhere they might come into contact with contaminants under investigation). After a chemical release or suspected release into the environment, ATSDR's EIs are used by public health professionals, environmental risk managers, and other decision makers to determine if current conditions warrant intervention strategies to minimize or eliminate human exposure. EIs are usually requested by officials of a state health agency, county health departments, the Environmental Protection Agency, the general public, and ATSDR staff.

ATSDR has been conducting EIs since 1995 throughout the United States. All of ATSDR's biomedical assessments and some of the environmental investigations involve participants. Participation is completely voluntary. To assist in interpreting the sampling results, a survey questionnaire appropriate to the specific contaminant is administered to participants. ATSDR collects contact information (e.g., name, address, phone number) to provide the participant with their individual results. Name and address information are broken into nine separate questions (data fields) for computer entry. General information, which includes height, weight, age, race, gender, etc., is also collected primarily on biomedical investigations to assist with results interpretation. General information can account for approximately 20 questions per investigation. Some of this information is investigation-specific; not all of this data is collected for every investigation. ATSDR is seeking a revision of our approval for use of a set of 61 general information questions.

ATSDR also collects information on other possible confounding sources of chemical(s) exposure such as medicines taken, foods eaten, hobbies, jobs, etc. In addition, ATSDR asks questions on recreational or occupational activities that could increase a participant's exposure potential. That information represents an individual's exposure history. To cover those broad categories, ATSDR is also seeking a revision to our approval for the use of sets of topical questions. Of these, we use approximately 12-20 questions about the pertinent environmental exposures per investigation. This number can vary depending on the number of chemicals being investigated, the route of exposure (e.g., breathing, eating, touching), and number of other sources of the chemical(s) (e.g., products used, jobs).

Typically, the number of participants in an individual EI ranges from 10 to 100. Questionnaires are generally needed in less than half of the EIs (approximately 7 per year).

The subject matter for the complete set of topical questions includes the following:

(1) Media specific which includes: Air (indoor/outdoor); water (water source and plumbing); soil, and food (gardening, fish, game, domestic animals (e.g., chickens).

(2) Other sources such as: occupations; hobbies; household chemical uses and house construction characteristics; lifestyle (e.g., smoking); medicines and/or health conditions, and foods. There are no costs to respondents other than their time.