Toxicity Profile for 8-Hydroxyquinoline and its sulphate (1990)

Abstract

8-Hydroxyquinoline (8-HQ) may be a skin irritant in man. Hair depigmentation was seen in mice treated dermally. Dilute solutions were slightly irritating to the eyes of rabbits. In cases of human poisoning (by ingestion or by the administration of an enema containing 8-HQ or its sulphate), the kidney, liver and blood were the principal sites of toxic attack. Comprehensive studies involving repeated oral administration of 8-HQ to rodents failed to identify any particular sites for toxic attack and provided no convincing evidence of carcinogenicity. 8-HQ induced chromosomal damage in mammalian cells in culture (including human cells), but gave conflicting results in mice treated intraperitoneally. Both 8-HQ and its sulphate have induced mutagenicity in Ames bacterial tests and there was some evidence of mutagenic activity in mammalian cells treated in culture.