State of the Science Report for Quinoline

Introduction

Under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (CEPA 1999) the Minister of Health may gather information, conduct investigations and evaluations, including screening assessments, relevant for the purpose of assessing whether a substance is entering or may enter the environment in a quantity or concentration or under conditions that constitute or may constitute a danger in Canada to human life or health.

Screening health assessments focus initially on conservative assessment of hazard or effect levels for critical endpoints and upper-bounding estimates of exposure, after consideration of all relevant identified information. Decisions based on the nature of the critical effects and margins between conservative effect levels and estimates of exposure take into account confidence in the completeness of the identified databases on both exposure and effects, within a screening context. Additional background information on screening health assessments conducted under this program is available at http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ewh-semt/contaminants/existsub/index_e.html.

A State of the Science Report for a screening assessment has been prepared on quinoline (see Figure 1) on the basis that this compound was included in the Domestic Substances List pilot phase for screening as a substance likely to be prioritized on the basis for greatest potential for human exposure.

This draft State of the Science Report for a screening assessment and associated unpublished supporting working documentation were prepared by evaluators within the Existing Substances Division of Health Canada; the content of these documents was reviewed at several meetings of senior Divisional staff. The draft Report was subsequently externally reviewed for adequacy of data coverage and defensibility of the conclusions. The supporting working documentation is available upon request by e-mail from ExSD@hc-sc.gc.ca

Information identified as of July 2003 was considered for inclusion in this Report. The critical information and considerations upon which this Report is based are summarized below. Additional data identified between this date and the end of the external peer review period (April, 2004) were also scoped and determined not to impact upon the conclusions presented here.

Identity, Use and Sources of Exposure

Quinoline is an N-heterocyclic compound with the chemical structure presented in Figure 1. Based on a survey made under CEPA 1999, Section 71, one or more companies reported manufacture or import of this substance in excess of 10 000 kg during the calendar year 2000 (Environment Canada, 2001). Quinoline is used as a solvent, chemical intermediate and corrosion inhibitor and in the manufacture of pharmaceuticals (Finley, 1996). It is formed during the incomplete combustion of nitrogen-containing substances (e.g., petroleum, coal) and is therefore dispersed in the environment as a component of suspended particulate matter emitted from sources such as automobile exhaust and petroleum or coal refining facilities (Dong and Locke, 1977). Quinoline was identified as being used as a component in fragrance mixtures (RIFM, 2003), and as such, there is potential for the population to be exposed to quinoline through the use of consumer product formulations that include this ingredient.