Summary of public comments received on the draft Federal Environmental Quality Guidelines for Quinoline
Comments on the draft Federal Environmental Quality Guidelines for Quinoline were submitted by Alberta Environment and Parks and British Columbia Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy.
Summarized public comments and responses are provided below, organized by topic:
Topic 1: Editorial
| Summarized comment | Summarized response |
|---|---|
| Various editorial comments were received to improve the clarity and flow of the factsheet. | With the exception of comments related to the introduction section (e.g. how FEQGs are used and why they are developed via the FEQG forum), all editorial suggestions were incorporated into the factsheet. More details, such as what are FEQGs, why and when they are developed and how they differ from CEQGs are available online. |
Topic 2: Methodology
| Summarized comment | Summarized response |
|---|---|
| Why was largemouth bass LC50 from Black et al. (1983) not used in guideline derivation? | As per CCME (2007), LC50s are unacceptable for Type A guideline development. Further, the raw data for largemouth bass were not reported in Black et al. (1983) so an acceptable, low effect endpoint could not be calculated. |
| Due to the perceived greater sensitivity of largemouth bass and its exclusion from guideline derivation, there is uncertainty the guideline will be protective of aquatic life. | While largemouth bass LC50 (7.5 mg/L) is marginally lower than rainbow trout LC50 (11 mg/L), the difference between the 2 values is not statistically significant (i.e. the 95% confidence interval for the difference, -5 to 12 mg/L, includes 0). Rainbow trout could arguably be more sensitive as its rate of teratogenesis is higher than largemouth bass at the highest dose tested. Given the relatively similar responses for mortality and teratogenesis observed for both species, rainbow trout is presumed to be a good surrogate for largemouth bass sensitivity and the guideline is expected to be protective of aquatic life. |