1,2-Dihydro-2,2,4-trimethylquinoline (TMQ) was evaluated in a 2-year study in which groups of 60 male or female F344 rats received 0, 36 or 60 mg kg(-1) (0, 0.022, or 0.037 mg cm(-2)) and groups of 60 male or female B6C3F1 mice received 0, 3.6 or 10 mg kg(-1) (0, 0.00136, 0.00435 mg cm(-2)) in acetone by topical administration. Survival of all treated groups was comparable to survival of controls. Mean body weights of female rats were lower than those of controls throughout the study but mean body weights of male rats and male and female mice were comparable to the mean body weights of controls. No neoplasms of the skin were observed in any group of rats or mice. Acanthosis at the site of application was increased in male and female rats that received 60 or 100 mg kg(-1) and hyperkeratosis was increased in female rats that received 60 mg kg(-1). The incidences of renal tubule adenoma and renal tubule adenoma or carcinoma were increased significantly in the 60 and 100 mg kg(-1) groups of male rats. There were no neoplastic or non-neoplastic lesions in mice associated with exposure to 1,2-dihydro-2,2,4-trimethylquinoline. In a 1-year initiation-promotion study, groups of 30 female SENCAR mice received an initiating dose of 50 mg kg(-1) 1,2-dihydro-2,2,4-trimethylquinoline followed by promotion with 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA), or an initiating dose of 7,12-dimethylbenzanthracene (DMBA) followed by promotion with 5, 10 or 25 mg kg(-1) 1,2-dihydro-2,2,4-trimethylquinoline. Other groups served as initiator control, promoter control, vehicle control and positive control (DMBA initiation, TPA promotion). In this system, 1,2-dihydro-2,2,4-trimethylquinoline-initiated skin was not promoted by TPA, and DMBA-initiated skin was not promoted by 1,2-dihydro-2,2,4-trimethylquinoline.