An ad hoc committee will review the scientific and technical basis of DOD's proposed approach to developing an occupational exposure level (OEL) documented in the report Trichloroethylene: Occupational Exposure Level for the Department of Defense. The committee will

· Provide an analysis of the overall approach and suggestions on individual components of the report that may lead to improvements in the accuracy of the proposed process. Individual components include the literature review, evidence synthesis based on weight of evidence [WOE], point-of-departure derivation, use of physiologically based pharmacokinetic modeling, use of extrapolation tools, and other elements of the process.

· Determine if the process in deriving an OEL for TCE, including the WOE approach to determine relevance of controlled laboratory studies and overall approach corroborating alternative lines of evidence, is scientifically sound.

· Determine if the derived OEL value is supported by the toxicity information and has followed the WOE approach outlined in the report and provide a summary opinion of the approach and the scientific support for the derivation of the OEL.

· Determine whether the development of a range of cancer risk levels was appropriately supported.

· Due to the controversial nature of the evidence on developmental effects, determine whether DOD’s report considered this evidence in an unbiased manner that was consistent with its use of other toxicological evidence and used sound professional judgment in its evaluation of the evidence.