[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 222 (Friday, November 18, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 69972-69973]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-22874]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[60 Day-06-0463]


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 404-639-4766 
and send comments to Seleda Perryman, CDC Assistant Reports Clearance 
Officer, 1600 Clifton Road, MS-D74, Atlanta, GA 30333 or send an e-mail 
to <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#deb1b3bc9ebdbabdf0b9b1a8"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="7d12101f3d1e191e531a120b">[email protected]</span></a>.
    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

    Longitudinal Surveillance for Beryllium Disease Prevention--
Extension--National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health 
(NIOSH)--Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Background and Brief Description

    The mission of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and 
Health (NIOSH) is to promote safety and health at work for all people 
through research and prevention. The Occupational Safety and Health 
Act, Pub. L. 91-596 (section 20[a][1]) authorizes the National 
Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) to conduct 
research to advance the health and safety of workers.
    NIOSH has been conducting this survey of beryllium workers for 
three years and this extension will allow for completion of the data 
collection. Workers are asked to complete an interviewer administered 
medical and work history questionnaire and to give a blood sample. 
Without medical and work history data on former workers, NIOSH staff 
will be unable to conduct the necessary research to make 
recommendations for preventing beryllium sensitization and disease. 
Follow-up on this cohort will provide invaluable information on the 
natural history of disease, gene-gene, and gene-environment 
interactions, which can become the basis for prevention policy at both 
company and government levels.
    Beryllium is a lightweight metal with many applications. Exposed 
workers may be found in the primary production, nuclear power and 
weapons, aerospace, scrap metal reclamation, specialty ceramics, and 
electronics industries, among others. The size of the U.S. workforce at 
risk of chronic beryllium disease (CBD), from either current or past 
work-related exposure to the metal, may be as high as one million 
workers. Demand for beryllium is growing worldwide, which means that 
increasing numbers of workers are likely to be exposed.
    CBD is a chronic granulomatous lung disease mediated through an 
immunologic mechanism in workers who become sensitized to the metal. 
Sensitization can be detected with a blood test called the beryllium 
lymphocyte proliferation test (BeLPT), which is used by the industry as 
a surveillance tool. Use of this test for surveillance was first 
reported in 1989. Sensitized workers, identified through workplace 
surveillance programs, undergo clinical diagnostic tests to determine 
whether they have CBD. Research has indicated certain genetic 
determinants in the risk of CBD; follow-up studies will be invaluable 
for further characterizing the genetic contribution to sensitization 
and disease.
    NIOSH is in a unique position to accomplish this research for a 
number of reasons: (a) It has a successful collaboration with the 
leading

[[Page 69973]]

manufacturer of beryllium in the U.S. This has allowed us to establish 
well-characterized worker cohorts within the beryllium industry. (b) It 
is conducting industrial hygiene research that should significantly 
improve workplace-based exposure assessment methods. This research will 
allow characterization of jobs and tasks by physicochemical 
characteristics, leading to an estimation of dose rather than mass 
concentration-based exposure. (c) It has pioneered the evaluation of 
the dermal exposure route in the beryllium sensitization process. (d) 
It has developed and improved genetic research that will contribute to 
the understanding of risk variability in sensitization and disease, as 
well as discerning the underlying mechanisms. (e) NIOSH has the 
institutional stability to continue longitudinal evaluations of health 
outcomes in relation to exposure and genetic risk factors. There is no 
cost to respondents other than their time.

                                      Estimates of Annualized Burden Hours
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                                                                  Number of     Average  burden/
                 Respondents                     Number of       responses /      response (in     Total burden
                                                respondents       respondent         hours)         (in hours)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Former Workers..............................             100                1            30/60               50
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    Dated: November 14, 2005.
Betsey Dunaway,
Acting Reports Clearance Officer, Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention.
[FR Doc. 05-22874 Filed 11-17-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P


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