Meeting record November 18-19, 2015 - Chemicals Management Plan Science Committee

Chemicals Management Plan Science Committee

Attendees

Committee Members

• Sylvain Bintein
• Nicola Cherry
• Elaine Cohen Hubal
• Miriam Diamond
• Geoff Granville
• Barbara Hales
• Jonathan Martin
• Greg Paoli
• Don Wilke

Ad Hoc Members

• Thomas Backhaus (Professor of Environmental Science, University of Gothenburg, Sweden)

Government of Canada Officials

• David Morin (Director General, Science and Risk Assessment, Environment and Climate Change Canada)
• Amanda Jane Preece (Director General, Safe Environments Directorate, Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch, Health Canada)
• Robert Chénier (Director, Ecological Assessment Division, Science and Technology Branch, Environment and Climate Change Canada)
• Angelika Zidek (Acting Director, Existing Substances Risk Assessment Bureau, Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch, Health Canada)
• Ariff Ally (Senior Manager, Existing Substances Risk Assessment Bureau, Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch, Health Canada)
• Lynn Berndt-Weis (A/Manager, Existing Substances Risk Assessment Bureau, Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch, Health Canada)
• Heather Patterson (A/Manager, Existing Substances Risk Assessment Bureau, Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch, Health Canada) (Day 1)
• Helen El-Koura (Science Advisor, Existing Substances Risk Assessment Bureau, Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch, Health Canada) (Day 1)
• Don Gutzman (Manager, Priority Assessments Section, Ecological Assessment Division, Science and Technology Branch, Environment and Climate Change Canada) (Day 1)
• Thomas Kruidenier (A/Manager, Ecological Assessment Division, Science and Technology Branch, Environment and Climate Change Canada)
• Kelly Potter (Head, Ecological Assessment Division, Science and Technology Branch, Environment and Climate Change Canada)

Secretariat

• Julie Chouinard (Manager, Existing Substances Risk Assessment Bureau, Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch, Health Canada)
• Christine Allen (Senior Policy Analyst, Existing Substances Risk Assessment Bureau, Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch, Health Canada)

Observers

(for the introduction of topic and Charge Question (item #6) and the Government of Canada presentation (item #7))

• Shannon Coombs (President, Canadian Consumer Specialty Products Association)
• Maggie MacDonald (Toxic Program Manager, Environmental Defence)

Overview

The Chemicals Management Plan (CMP) Science Committee (the Committee) met on November 18 and 19, 2015 for a face-to-face meeting. This meeting focused on addressing the Charge Question: Health Canada (HC) and Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) are seeking input on proposed approaches for how combined exposure to multiple chemicals is being considered in risk assessment and considerations for determining when to move forward with a cumulative risk assessment. It included presentations to inform Committee deliberations, as well as a full day discussion to develop a preliminary response to the Charge Question and next steps for formulating the Committee Report. Outlined below is a brief summary of the meeting.

Day 1

Agenda item #1 (Introduction)

After brief introductory remarks by Robert Chénier, the agenda was reviewed and logistical items were addressed.

Greg Paoli was welcomed as a new core Committee member following the retirement of former core Committee member, Robert James Maguire, in spring 2015. Committee member Peter Campbell conveyed his regrets for being unable to attend the November 2015 meeting.

Agenda item #2 (Opening remarks)

HC Director General AJ Preece and ECCC Director General David Morin thanked the Committee members for their contributions and provided a brief update on the current status of phase 2 of the CMP and the preparations that are underway for phase 3 of the CMP which will commence in April 2016.

Agenda item #3 (Introductions and declarations)

There was an update to one member's affiliations and interests declaration with regard to upcoming work.

Agenda item #4 (Update on how Committee Report #3 is being used)

A presentation on how the input from Committee Report #3 is being used was given by Heather Patterson (HC). The presentation outlined where the Departments have shared the Report, how it has influenced departmental work, and the planned path forward.

Agenda item #5 (Preliminary thinking on the CMP Science Committee Review)

A presentation on the preliminary thinking on the Science Committee Review was given by Helen El-Koura (HC). The presentation outlined a proposed scope, methodology, and review timelines. Information on a Mid-term Science Committee Report was also provided. This Report will summarize the first three face-to-face Committee meetings and will also provide information on how the Government of Canada has used the input from the first three Committee Reports.

Agenda item #6 (Introduction of topic and Charge Question)

The Charge Questions were introduced by the co-chairs. HC and ECCC are seeking input on the appropriateness of the proposed ecological and health approaches for determining cumulative risk for the phthalates grouping. The Departments are also seeking input on the following: when conducting a screening assessment under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999, what are considerations for determining when a cumulative risk assessment is appropriate?

Agenda item #7 (Presentation from Government of Canada officials on cumulative risk assessment)

Lynn Berndt-Weis (HC) and Kelly Potter (ECCC) delivered a presentation on the Charge Question. The presentation was intended to inform the Committee on when and how to consider cumulative risk in chemical assessments for existing substances under the CMP, and it included two case studies.

The presentation was well received and followed by discussion.

Agenda item #8 (Perspectives from Committee members/Ad hoc member on cumulative risk assessment)

Core and ad hoc members provided their perspectives on cumulative risk assessment, which included discussions on data, problem formulation, and tiered approaches used in other international organizations, such as the World Health Organization.

Agenda item #9 (Discussion of Charge Question)

Committee members began preliminary discussions on the Charge Question. A round table gave each member the opportunity to discuss their perspective on cumulative risk assessment.

Day 2

Agenda item #10 (Housekeeping items/recap of Day 1)

The co-chairs provided a recap of day one.

Agenda items #11-13 (Discussion amongst Committee members on Charge Question)

Committee members engaged in a full day of discussions and constructive dialogue as they developed their preliminary draft input to the Charge Question.

Agenda items #14 (Preliminary response to Charge Question and associated discussion)

The Committee formulated a revised decision tree on when to conduct a cumulative risk assessment which constituted the preliminary response to the Charge Question. This revised decision tree was not developed for the Departments to implement; rather, the decision tree was developed to generate Committee discussion about the Charge Questions.

Agenda item #15 (Next steps for formulation of written report)

It was agreed that the co-chairs would provide members with a draft report for input and comment in December.

Agenda item #16 (Closing remarks)

Potential future meeting topics were discussed, and the meeting was adjourned.