[CPEO-MEF] JP-8 Assessment Available

[CPEO Moderator <cpeo@cpeo.org>]

A prepublication version of the "Toxicologic Assessment of
Jet-Propulsion Fuel 8," presented by the Subcommittee on Jet-Propulsion
Fuel 8 of the Committee on Toxicology of the National Research Council,
is now available for online viewing.

Below is an excerpt from the Summary section of the assessment.  The
full text can be viewed at http://www.nap.edu/catalog/10578.html (take
the link on the left side of the screen that says "Read it Online").
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    The US Department of Defense (DOD) has, for many years, faced the
logistical problem of using a variety of fuels for its aircraft, ground
vehicles, and other equipment, such as cooking stoves and tent heaters.
In the 1980s, DOD decided to initiate a 20-year fuel conversion process,
in which most fuel-requiring equipment would be converted to exclusive
use of jet propulsion fuel-8 (JP-8).  With DOD and North Atlantic Treaty
Organization (NATO) forces using an estimated 5 billion gallons of JP-8
each year, there is widespread exposure of DOD and NATO military
personnel to JP-8.

    In 1996, a previous subcommittee of the National Research Council's
Committee on Toxicology (COT)¹ judged that the Navy's interim 8-hr
time-weighted-average permissible exposure level (PEL) of 350 mg/m³ for
JP-4, JP-5 and JP-8 was adequate to protect the health of Navy personnel
occupationally exposed to vapors from those fuels, based on the data
available at that time; however, it identified a number of data gaps and
recommended that the PEL for the three jet-fuel vapors be considered
interim until further research had been completed.

    Since the release of the 1996 report, considerable data on JP-8 have
been generated.  Because JP-8 is now being used more widely by DOD, and
because occupational exposures to JP-8 vapors and aerosols are known to
occur, the Air Force requested that the Research Council independently
re-evaluate the scientific basis of the PEL of 350 mg/m³ for JP-8;
identify data gaps; and make recommendations for future research
relevant to deriving the PEL.  The Research Council assigned this
project to the COT Subcommittee on Jet-Propulsion Fuel 8, which prepared
this report.

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