UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

WASHINGTON, DC 20460

OFFICE OF PREVENTION, PESTICIDES, AND TOXIC SUBSTANCES

 

MEMORANDUM:								May 3, 2007

Subject:	Incident Report Associated with Copper 8-Quinolinolate

To:	Kathryn Avivah Jakob, Chemical Review Manager

	Regulatory Management Branch II

Antimicrobials Division (7510P)

			AND

	Timothy McMahon, PhD., Risk Assessor

	Senior Toxicologist

		Antimicrobials Division (7510P)

From: 	Jonathan Chen, Ph.D

Risk Assessment and Science Support Branch (RASSB)

Antimicrobials Division (7510P)

Thru:	Nader Elkassabany, Team Leader

	Team Two

	Risk Assessment and Science Support Branch (RASSB)

	Antimicrobials Division (7510P)

	Norm Cook, Branch Chief

Risk Assessment and Science Support Branch (RASSB)

Antimicrobials Division (7510P)



INCIDENT REPORT ASSOCIATED 

COPPER 8 QUINOLATE

(PC CODE 024002 )

May. 3, 2007

Jonathan Chen, Ph.D.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Office of Pesticide Programs

Antimicrobials Division



Table of Contents

  TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u    HYPERLINK \l "_Toc166257098"  0.0
INTRODUCTION	  PAGEREF _Toc166257098 \h  1  

  HYPERLINK \l "_Toc166257099"  1.0	INCIDENT REPORT DATA ASSOCIATED WITH
HEALTH EFFECTS OF COPPER 8 QUINOLATE EXPOSURE	  PAGEREF _Toc166257099 \h
 1  

  HYPERLINK \l "_Toc166257100"  1.1	OPP’s Incident Data System (IDS)	 
PAGEREF _Toc166257100 \h  2  

  HYPERLINK \l "_Toc166257101"  1.2	Poison Control Center (1993 –
2002)	  PAGEREF _Toc166257101 \h  2  

  HYPERLINK \l "_Toc166257102"  1.3 	California Data - 1982 through 2004
  PAGEREF _Toc166257102 \h  2  

  HYPERLINK \l "_Toc166257103"  1.4	National Pesticide
Telecommunications Network (NPTN)	  PAGEREF _Toc166257103 \h  4  

  HYPERLINK \l "_Toc166257104"  1.5	Incident Reports Associated
Published in Scientific Literature.	  PAGEREF _Toc166257104 \h  4  

  HYPERLINK \l "_Toc166257105"  2.0	SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION	  PAGEREF
_Toc166257105 \h  5  

  HYPERLINK \l "_Toc166257106"  3.0	REFERENCE:	  PAGEREF _Toc166257106
\h  6  

 

0.0	INTRODUCTION

Copper-8-quinolate is a fungicide used in the treatment of textiles, as
an ingredient in paints, and in the preservation of wood and paper. It
is used in plastics and paper products and has agricultural application
as a fungicide.

The purpose of this chapter is to review the evidence of health effects
in humans resulting from exposure to copper-8-quinolate. Two approaches
are used in this section:

The potential health effects of copper-8-quinolate in humans, reported
as incident reports from different sources, are summarized. 

A literature search of chronic health effects associated with
copper-8-quinolate, including results of epidemiological studies, are
summarized.

This reports summarized the potential health effects of
copper-8-quinolate in humans, reported as incident reports from
different sources.

1.0	INCIDENT REPORT DATA ASSOCIATED WITH HEALTH EFFECTS OF COPPER 8
QUINOLATE EXPOSURE

		

The following databases have been consulted for the poisoning incident
data on the active ingredient copper-8-quinolate (PC Code: 024002)

OPP Incident Data System (IDS) - The Incident Data System of The Office
of Pesticide Programs (OPP) of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
contains reports of incidents from various sources, including
registrants, other federal and state health and environmental agencies
and individual consumers, submitted to OPP since 1992.  Reports
submitted to the Incident Data System represent anecdotal reports or
allegations only, unless otherwise stated.  Typically no conclusions can
be drawn implicating the pesticide as a cause of any of the reported
health effects.  Nevertheless, sometimes with enough cases and/or enough
documentation risk mitigation measures may be suggested.

Poison Control Centers - as the result of a data purchase by EPA, OPP
received Poison Control Center data covering the years 1993 through 2002
for all pesticides.  Most of the national Poison Control Centers (PCCs)
participate in a national data collection system, the Toxic Exposure
Surveillance System, which obtains data from about 65-70 centers at
hospitals and universities.  PCCs provide telephone consultation for
individuals and health care providers on suspected poisonings, involving
drugs, household products, pesticides, etc.

California Department of Pesticide Regulation - California has collected
uniform data on suspected pesticide poisonings since 1982.  Physicians
are required, by statute, to report to their local health officer all
occurrences of illness suspected of being related to exposure to
pesticides.  The majority of the incidents involve workers.  Information
on exposure (worker activity), type of illness (systemic, eye, skin,
eye/skin and respiratory), likelihood of a causal relationship, and
number of days off work and in the hospital are provided.

National Pesticide Telecommunications Network (NPTN) - NPTN is a
toll-free information service supported by OPP. A ranking of the top 200
active ingredients for which telephone calls were received during
calendar years 1984-1991, inclusive, has been prepared. The total number
of calls was tabulated for the categories human incidents, animal
incidents, calls for information, and others.

Published Incident Reports - Some incident reports associated with
copper-8- quinolate related human health hazard are published in the
scientific literature.

1.1	OPP’s Incident Data System (IDS)

	

No incidences associated with copper-8-quinolate have been reported in
IDS.

 

1.2	Poison Control Center (1993 – 2002)

No incidences associated with copper-8-quinolate have been reported in
the Poison Center data base.

1.3 	California Data - 1982 through 2004 

Detailed descriptions of 8 cases with a definite or probable
relationship cases submitted to the California Pesticide Illness
Surveillance Program (1982-2004) were reviewed. All the symptoms are
irritation type reactions.  For eye contact, red, itchy eyes, blurred
vision, photophbia, chemical conjunctivitis, cornea abrasions are
reported.  For dermal contact, red, rash and contact dermatitis are
reported.  For inhalation exposure, sore and burning throat, and
inhalation infection symptoms are reported.   There is no incidence need
hospitalization treatment. Table 1 presents the types of illnesses
reported by year.  Table 2 gives the total number of workers that took
time off work as a result of their illness and how many were
hospitalized and for how long. 

Table 1.  Cases Due to Copper-8-Quinolate, Alone or In Combination
Exposure in California Reported by Type of Illness and Year, 1982-2004

Year	Illness Type

	Systemic a	Eye b	Skin c	Respiratory d	Combination e 	Total

1982	-	-	-	-	-	0

1983	-	-	-	-	-	0

1984	-	1	-	-	-	1

1985	-	-	-	-	-	0

1986	-	-	-	-	-	0

1987	-	-	2	-	-	2

1988	1	-	-	-	-	1

1989	-	1	-	-	-	1

1990	-	-	-	-	-	0

1991	-	-	1	-	-	1

1992	-	-	-	-	-	0

1993	-	-	-	-	-	0

1994	-	-	-	-	-	0

1995	-

-	1	1	1

1996	-	-	-	-	-	0

1997	-	-	-	-	-	0

1998	-	-	-	-	-	0

1999	-	-	-	-	-	0

2000	-	-	-	-	-	0

2001	-	-	-	-	-	0

2002	-	-	-	-	-	0

2003





0

2004	1	1	-	-	1	1

Total

(1882-2004)	2	3	3	1	2	8

a Category includes cases where headache and dizziness, are reported
symptoms. 

b. For eye contact, red, itchy eyes, blurred vision, photophobia,
chemical conjunctivitis, cornea abrasions are reported. 

C For dermal contact, red, rash and contact dermatitis are reported.

d. For inhalation exposure, sore and burning throat, and inhalation
infection symptoms are reported.

e Category includes combined effects to eye, skin, respiratory and/or
systemic effects.

Table 2:  

Number of Persons Disabled (taking time off work) or Hospitalized for
Indicated Number of Days after Copper-8-Quinolate Exposure in
California, 1982-2004.

	

Number of Persons Disabled	

Number of Persons Hospitalized



One day

-



Two days	2	

-



3-5 days	1	

-



6-10 days



-



11 – 15 days



-



More than 15 days	1	

-



Indefinite a



-



Unknownb



4

Note:

(a) An entry of indefinite indicates the event occurred, but the time
period is not known.

(b) An entry of unknown indicates no information was provided.

 .

1.4	National Pesticide Telecommunications Network (NPTN)

There is no incidences reported in the NPTN database related to
copper-8-quinolate exposure.

1.5	Incident Reports Associated Published in Scientific Literature.

There is a cross-sectional study was conducted in saw mills to ascertain
which acute health effects, if any, were associated with the use of the
use of the fungicides, including  2-(thiocyanomethylthio) benzothiazole
(TCMTB) and copper-8-quinolinolate (Teschke et al, 1992)  Workers in
five coastal sawmills were asked to complete a self-administered
questionnaire about symptoms considered potentially related and
unrelated to fungicide exposure, and about injuries commonly reported in
sawmills. The first-aid records from the mills were collected,  Senior
workers were asked to estimate the duration of exposure to fungicides
for each job. The symptoms consistently elevated in TCMTB mills included
dry skin around the eyes, blood-stained mucus from the nose, nose bleed,
peeling skin, burning or itching skin, and skin redness or rash.  No
symptoms were consistently elevated in the Copper 8 mills. However, the
low symptom-recording frequency may be a function of established
patterns of first-aid use in which illness symptoms are reported less
frequently than injuries.

2.0	SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

There are some incidences been reported associated with exposure to
end-use products containing copper-8-quinolate.  Dermal and eye exposure
are the primary routes of exposure associated with these incidence.  No
severe incidences are been associated with copper-8-exposure been
reported.

3.0	REFERENCE:

Teschke K, Hertzman C, Wiens M, Dimich-Ward H, Hershler R, Ostry A, and
Kelly S. 1992. Recognizing Acute Health Effects of Substitute
Fungicides? Are First- Aid Reports Effective? American Journal of
Industrial Medicine 21: 375-382.

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