Examine More Recent Non-Cancer Studies, If Warranted

In addition to evaluating studies that served as the basis for health guidelines, sometimes you may need to identify animal and human studies published more recently than those used to derive the health guidelines. For example, you might do this step if you are evaluating a contaminant that is the subject of ongoing research. Another example is a contaminant that has a Toxicological Profile out for public comment, which means that ATSDR is actively seeking input as the Agency updates the profile. In these cases, you may wish to contact the ATSDR chemical manager for the Toxicological Profile and ask if new peer-reviewed published studies have been identified that might be useful or if the provisional MRL might change when the Toxicological Profile becomes final. This insight will help you assess and plan for any changes to the values used in your evaluation before releasing your document.

While not required, you may wish to search for more recent articles through the sources listed below.

• PubMed
• Google Scholar

Other example sources that provide chemical information include the following:

• PubChem
• ChemIDplus
• The Risk Assessment Information System (RAIS)

Also check whether ATSDR has published a Toxicological Addendum, which describes studies published since the Final Toxicological Profile was released. Addenda to the Toxicological Profiles, however, will not contain new MRLs. If ATSDR derives a new MRL during the process of updating a Toxicological Profile, then ATSDR will release a new updated Toxicological Profile instead of an addenda.

Clearly identify any newer information you use in your report.