Ammonia

Overview

On June 1, 2012, the draft Toxicological Review of Ammonia and the draft charge to external peer reviewers were released for external peer review and public comment. The Toxicological Review and charge were reviewed internally by EPA and by other federal agencies and White House Offices before public release. Consistent with the May 2009 IRIS assessment development process, all written comments on IRIS assessments submitted by other federal agencies and White House Offices are made publicly available. Accordingly, interagency comments and the interagency science consultation materials provided to other agencies, including interagency review drafts of the IRIS Toxicological Review of Ammonia and the charge to external peer reviewers, are posted on this site.

Background

About 80% of commercially produced ammonia is used in agricultural fertilizers. Ammonia is also used as a corrosion inhibitor, in water purification, as a household cleaner, as an antimicrobial agent in food products, as a refrigerant, as a stabilizer in the rubber industry, as a source of hydrogen in the hydrogenation of fats and oils, and as a chemical intermediate in the production of pharmaceuticals, explosives, and other chemicals. Ammonia is also used to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions from combustion sources such as industrial and municipal boilers, power generators, and diesel engines. Ammonia is a component of the global nitrogen cycle and is essential to many biologic processes.

History/Chronology

Date	Description
May 1991	The RfC for ammonia was posted to the IRIS database.
Mar 2012	EPA hosted an interagency science consultation meeting on the review of the draft Toxicological Review of Ammonia.
Jun 2012	EPA released the external review draft of the ammonia assessment for public review and comment.

Status

Following external peer review and public comment, the assessment will be revised taking into consideration the comments received. It will then undergo a final internal review by EPA and other federal agencies and White House offices. After completing the review it will be posted to the IRIS database.

This download(s) is distributed solely for the purpose of pre-dissemination peer review under applicable information quality guidelines. It has not been formally disseminated by EPA. It does not represent and should not be construed to represent any Agency determination or policy.

• IRIS Toxicological Review of Ammonia (Interagency Science Consultation Draft) Oct 2011 (PDF)  (151  pp, 1.2 MB, about PDF)
• Draft Charge to External Peer Reviewers (Interagency Science Consultation Draft) Oct 2011 (PDF)  (2  pp, 29.3 KB, about PDF)
• IRIS Toxicological Review of Ammonia (2nd Interagency Science Consultation Draft) Feb 2012 (PDF)  (94  pp, 889.6 KB, about PDF)
• IRIS Toxicological Review of Ammonia, Supplemental Information (2nd Interagency Science Consultation Draft) Feb 2012 (PDF)  (65  pp, 684.6 KB, about PDF)
• Draft Charge to External Peer Reviewers (2nd Interagency Science Consultation Draft) Feb 2012 (PDF)  (2  pp, 31.2 KB, about PDF)
• EPA's Response and Comments from the Interagency Science Consultation (PDF)  (4  pp, 54.7 KB, about PDF)
• 1. CDC ATSDR Ammonia IASC Comments - Nov 2011 (PDF)  (2  pp, 28.3 KB, about PDF)
• 2. CDC ATSDR Ammonia IASC Comments - Feb 2012 (PDF)  (1  pp, 26.4 KB, about PDF)
• 3. CEQ Ammonia IASC Comments - Mar 2012 (PDF)  (1  pp, 47.9 KB, about PDF)
• 4. USDA Ammonia IASC Comments - Nov 2011 (PDF)  (1  pp, 39.1 KB, about PDF)
• 5. Consolidated Comments from IRIS Interagency Reviewers on the Format and Preamble in the Science Consultation Draft Ammonia Assessment (PDF)  (7  pp, 173.8 KB, about PDF)

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Document Related Link(s)

• IRIS Toxicological Review of Ammonia (External Review Draft)