ARCHIVED - Pilot Phase for Screening Assessment

The Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (CEPA 1999) required the categorization of all existing substances on the Domestic Substances List (DSL) to identify and prioritize substances for further action. For many substances that have met the categorization criteria, and for others meeting different criteria under Section 75 of the Act, a health risk assessment could be part of the next steps.

In 2000, a pilot phase was initiated to develop the scientifically rigorous and technically sound processes that Health Canada and Environment Canada would each use to conduct screening level assessments. This pilot phase was intended to be instructive and provide valuable information on the most thorough and efficient approach for conducting such assessments.  A total of 123 substances were nominated to the pilot phase: Health Canada selected 30 substances and Environment Canada nominated 93.

Substances were selected for the pilot based on their estimated value for developing the screening assessment process. Substances selected by Health Canada were chosen on the basis of data available at the time, to represent a broad range of data sets for screening assessment. The likely potential for exposure of the population of Canada was considered in selecting the Health Canada nominations to this pilot phase, but only in a very preliminary fashion, well before development of the "tools" used to determine whether substances posed the "greatest potential for exposure", as part of the process associated with the health-related components of DSL categorization. 

Based upon the health-related results of DSL categorization, some of the Health Canada substances nominated for inclusion in the pilot phase are now considered to be either a high or moderate priority for further action, and the information gathered during the pilot phase will be useful in subsequent stages. However, the health-related components of DSL categorization have also revealed that many of the health nominations to the pilot phase are now low priorities for further work from a human health perspective, and as a result, there will be no further action on these undertaken at this time under CEPA 1999. The screening level health risk assessments on a few of these moderate/low priorities will nonetheless be finished, since they are very close to completion currently.

A table summarizing the status of the pilot phase substances nominated by Health Canada is presented below.
CAS Name Categorization/ Prioritization Result Health Canada Status
51-28-5 Phenol, 2,4-dinitro (2,4-Dinitrophenol) Not a Health Priority Not a Priority for Health Assessment at this time.
59-50-7 Phenol, 4-chloro-3-methyl- (4-Chloro-3-methylphenol) Not a Health Priority Not a Priority for Health Assessment at this time.
67-56-1 Methanol Moderate Health Priority To be considered for Further Action at a later date
67-63-0 2-Propanol (Isopropyl alcohol) Moderate Health Priority To be considered for Further Action at a later date
67-64-1 2-Propanone (Acetone) Moderate Health Priority Health Assessment in Progress
71-36-3 1-Butanol (n-Butyl alcohol) Moderate Health Priority To be considered for Further Action at a later date
74-85-1 Ethene (Ethylene) Not a Health Priority Not a Priority for Health Assessment at this time.
75-35-4 Ethene, 1,1-dichloro- (1,1-Dichloroethylene) High Health Priority SoS Report available
78-87-5 Propane, 1,2-dichloro- (1,2-Dichloropropane) Not a Health Priority Not a Priority for Health Assessment at this time.
78-93-3 2-Butanone (Methyl ethyl ketone) Moderate Health Priority To be considered for Further Action at a later date
79-92-5 Bicyclo[2.2.1]heptane, 2,2-dimethyl-3-methylene- (Camphene) Not a Health Priority Not a Priority for Health Assessment at this time.
91-20-3 Naphthalene High Health Priority Health Assessment in Progress
91-22-5 Quinoline High Health Priority SoS Report available
92-52-4 1,1'-Biphenyl (Diphenyl) Not a Health Priority SoS Report available
95-63-6 Benzene, 1,2,4- trimethyl- Not a Health Priority Not a Priority for Health Assessment at this time.
100-41-4 Benzene, ethyl- (Ethyl benzene) High Health Priority SoS Report available
106-93-4 Ethane, 1,2-dibromo (Ethylene dibromide) High Health Priority SoS Report available
108-10-1 2-Pentanone, 4-methyl- (Methyl isobutyl ketone) Moderate Health Priority To be considered for Further Action at a later date
110-82-7 Cyclohexane Low Health Priority Not a Priority for Health Assessment at this time.
111-42-2 Ethanol, 2,2'-iminobis- (Diethanolamine) Moderate Health Priority To be considered for Further Action at a later date
111-46-6 Ethanol, 2,2'-oxybis- (Glycols or Diethylene glycol) Moderate Health Priority To be considered for Further Action at a later date
115-07-1 1-Propene (Propylene) Moderate Health Priority To be considered for Further Action at a later date
120-83-2 Phenol, 2,4-dichloro- (2,4-Dichlorophenol) Not a Health Priority Not a Priority for Health Assessment at this time.
124-18-5 Decane Not a Health Priority Not a Priority for Health Assessment at this time.
534-52-1 Phenol, 2-methyl-4,6-dinitro- (4,6-Dinitro-o-cresol) High Health Priority SoS Report available
1330-78-5 Phosphoric acid, tris(methylphenyl) ester (Tritolyl phosphate) Moderate Health Priority To be considered for Further Action at a later date
7647-01-0 Hydrochloric acid Moderate Health Priority To be considered for Further Action at a later date
7664-93-9 Sulfuric acid Moderate Health Priority To be considered for Further Action at a later date
7783-06-4 Hydrogen sulfide Not a Health Priority Health Assessment in Progress
10049-04-4 Chlorine oxide (Chlorine dioxide) Moderate Health Priority To be considered for Further Action at a later date

Information on the 93 substances selected by Environment Canada for use in the pilot phase is available here.

A review prepared by Health Canada indicating that six of these 123 DSL pilot phase substances are not priorities for screening health assessment currently, owing to their use only in pesticidal applications, is presented here.

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