Clark Lantz is an Invited Speaker at NRC Inorganic Arsenic Workshop

Feb. 25, 2013

University of Arizona Superfund Research Program (UA SRP) investigator Dr. Clark Lantz was an invited speaker at a recent workshop, “Inorganic Arsenic: Scientific Considerations for Hazard Identification and Dose-Response Analysis.” The event was sponsored by the National Research Council (NRC) and hosted at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington DC on April 4, 2013.

This NRC Committee was tasked with conducting a public workshop to evaluate critical issues in assessing cancer and non-cancer effects from oral inorganic arsenic exposure. Dr. Lantz provided the NRC Committee with information on the mode of action for lung and cardiovascular effects of inorganic arsenic. His presentation emphasized arsenic-induced non-cancer alterations, especially those seen at the current maximum contaminant level (MCL) of 10 ug/L arsenic.

The main outcome of the workshop will be to generate an interim report that will guide the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in revising the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) assessment of inorganic arsenic. IRIS is a human health assessment program that evaluates information on health effects that may result from exposure to environmental contaminants. The Committee was also charged with suggesting better means of generating IRIS assessments for other environmental contaminants. Supported by a Congressional mandate and appropriation, the Committee and the workshop is tasked to develop a more reliable arsenic hazard identification and dose-response assessment, as well as an IRIS process that is modernized, more transparent, and usable.

Dr. Lantz was among several SRP investigators who either presented or are members of the NRC Committee, including: Committee Chair, Dr. Joe Graziano (Columbia University); Mary Gamble (Columbia University); Rebecca Fry (University of North Carolina); Craig Steinmaus (UC Berkeley); Joel Schwartz (Harvard); and Margaret Karagas (Dartmouth College).

To access the workshop agenda and view presentations by Dr. Lantz and others, click here.