Notice2026-11821
Agency Forms Undergoing Paperwork Reduction Act Review
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
June 12, 2026
Issuing agencies
Health and Human Services DepartmentCenters for Disease Control and Prevention
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 113 (Friday, June 12, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 113 (Friday, June 12, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35687-35688]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-11821]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
[30Day-26-0222]
Agency Forms Undergoing Paperwork Reduction Act Review
In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has submitted the information
collection request titled, ``Occupational Exposures to Waste Anesthetic
Gases in Healthcare Professionals'' to the Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) for review and approval. CDC previously published a
``Proposed Data Collection Submitted for Public Comment and
Recommendations'' notice on June 16, 2025 to obtain comments from the
public and affected agencies. CDC received one comment related to the
previous notice. This notice serves to allow an additional 30 days for
public and affected agency comments.
CDC will accept all comments for this proposed information
collection project. The Office of Management and Budget is particularly
interested in comments that:
(a) Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency,
including whether the information will have practical utility;
(b) Evaluate the accuracy of the agencies estimate of the burden of
the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the
methodology and assumptions used;
(c) Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to
be collected;
(d) Minimize the burden of the collection of information on those
who are to respond, including, through the use of appropriate
automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection
techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting
electronic submission of responses; and
(e) Assess information collection costs.
To request additional information on the proposed project or to
obtain a copy of the information collection plan and instruments, call
(404) 639-7570. Comments and recommendations for the proposed
information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of
this notice to <a href="http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain">www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain</a>. Find this particular
information collection by selecting ``Currently under 30-day Review--
Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search function. Direct
written comments and/or suggestions regarding the items contained in
this notice to the Attention: CDC Desk Officer, Office of Management
and Budget, 725 17th Street NW, Washington, DC 20503 or by fax to (202)
395-5806. Provide written comments within 30 days of notice
publication.
Proposed Project
Occupational Exposures to Waste Anesthetic Gases in Healthcare
Professionals--New--National Institute for Occupational Safety and
Health (NIOSH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Background and Brief Description
Waste anesthetic gases (WAGs) refer to anesthetic gases and vapors
that are released or leaked into the surrounding areas during the
administration of anesthesia to patients in operating rooms (ORs),
recovery in postanesthetic care units (PACUs), and patient care in
intensive care units in human and veterinary hospitals. Common inhaled
anesthetics involve nitrous oxide (N<INF>2</INF>O) and halogenated
agents such as isoflurane, desflurane, and sevoflurane. These agents
may be used individually or in combination, depending on the type of
surgery being performed.
While human and veterinary medical environments differ,
occupational exposure to WAGs is detrimental in both sectors. Acute WAG
exposure is linked to symptoms including nausea, dizziness, headache,
fatigue, irritability, drowsiness, and difficulties with judgement and
coordination. Chronic exposure health effects include DNA
[[Page 35688]]
damage, genotoxicity, increased oxidative stress, cancer, and liver and
kidney disease. However, adverse reproductive outcomes (AROs) of
spontaneous abortion, premature delivery, genetic damage, and birth
defects are a particular matter of concern because of conflicting
published results. Conflicting evidence on WAGs and AROs are primarily
attributed to methodological errors and weak study designs, including
lack of exposure data and related job exposure matrices (JEM), use of
gas mixtures, insufficient sample size, selection bias, etc. Accurate
quantification of WAG exposures is key to the epidemiologic study of
AROs among healthcare and veterinary workers (HCVWs) and in developing
JEMs for healthcare workers in PACUs in human hospitals and veterinary
hospitals (VHs). However, only a few studies have collected WAG
exposures for HCVWs in PACUs of human hospitals and VHs.
In addition, most health effect studies were conducted when co-
exposure to halogenated agents and N<INF>2</INF>O, which often happens
in human hospitals, occurred. There is a need to determine whether
adverse health outcomes are caused by halogenated agents alone. To our
knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the relationship
between WAG exposure and acute symptoms in HCVWs. This is also one of
the few studies to assess halogenated agents without co-exposure to
N<INF>2</INF>O. Most VHs use only a halogenated agent during anesthesia
and assessing WAG exposures and acute health symptoms among workers in
VHs is critical to determine acute health effect by halogenated agents
only. Finally, limited data on HCVW exposures to WAGs in PACUs and VHs
suggest that recommending and implementing control strategies to
minimize WAG exposure is challenging.
The purpose of the proposed data collection is to assess
occupational exposures to WAGs in HCVWs in PACUs and VHs, examine
associated adverse acute health effects of WAGs, and recommend control
measures to reduce WAG exposures in PACUs and VHs. We will focus on
sevoflurane (primary gas used), desflurane, and isoflurane, which are
the most commonly used anesthetic gases in human hospitals.
The target number of total participants is 280-150 subjects for the
exposure assessment (75 each with PACUs/VHs) and 130 for the post-shift
questionnaire (65 each with PACUs/VHs)--covering multiple hospitals.
Our goal is to have 150 participants--75 from each of the PACUs and
VHs--who complete both the exposure assessment and the post-shift
questionnaire. However, in practice, some healthcare workers might
participate in the exposure assessment without completing the post-
shift questionnaire, and vice versa. If this occurs, we need 150
workers (75 from PACUs and 75 from VHs) to complete the exposure
assessments, regardless of their participation in the questionnaire and
at least 130 workers to complete the questionnaires (65 from PACUs and
65 from VHs) regardless of their involvement in the exposure
assessment. Therefore, the maximum sample size for this study will be
280 (in the unlikely event that the 150 that complete the exposure
assessment are different from the 130 that complete the post-shift
questionnaires).
The burden hour estimates for the exposure assessment and post-
shift questionnaire are presented in the table below. The anticipated
duration of worker contact is approximately 55 minutes: 10 minutes each
for obtaining the informed consent forms, 10 minutes for putting on and
taking off sampling devices, 20 minutes for completing the full post-
shift questionnaire, and five minutes for completing the questionnaire
that focuses solely on acute health symptoms. For workers participating
in our study over multiple days, the post-shift questionnaire will
concentrate solely on acute health symptoms related to that specific
sampling date, requiring less than five minutes to finish. However, due
to uncertainty regarding how many workers will participate in our study
across multiple days, we estimated the burden hours by assuming that
50% of participants would take part in the study at least twice. The
total estimated respondent burden is 124 hours (62 hours for the
healthcare workers in PACUs and 62 for the healthcare workers in VHs).
CDC is requesting OMB approval for three years. There is no cost to
respondents other than their time to participate.
Estimated Annualized Burden Hours
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Average
Number of Number of burden per
Type of respondents Form name respondents responses per response
respondent (in hours)
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Healthcare workers in PACUs.............. Informed Consent (Exposure 75 1 10/60
assessment).
Informed Consent 65 1 10/60
(Questionnaire).
Donning/Doffing sampling 75 1 10/60
devices.
Post-shift questionnaire 65 1 20/60
(full).
Post-shift questionnaire 33 1 5/60
(acute symptoms focused).
Healthcare workers in veterinary Informed Consent (Exposure 75 1 10/60
hospitals. assessment).
Informed Consent 65 1 10/60
(Questionnaire).
Donning/Doffing sampling 75 1 10/60
devices.
Post-shift questionnaire 65 1 20/60
(full).
Post-shift questionnaire 33 1 5/60
(acute symptoms focused).
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Jeffrey M. Zirger,
Lead, Information Collection Review Office, Office of Public Health
Ethics and Regulations, Office of Science, Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention.
[FR Doc. 2026-11821 Filed 6-11-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P
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