Which is more toxic benzene or toluene?
Abstract. Benzene, toluene and xylene are monocyclic aromatic hydrocarbon compounds, used both as individual compound and as mixtures, in industry as well as household. Previous studies involving exposures to these compounds, individually, have shown that benzene was more toxic compared to toluene or xylene.
What is another name for toluene?
Toluene (also known as methylbenzene, phenylmethane, or toluol) and toluene-containing volatile substances are the most commonly abused solvents with a demonstrative addictive potential in humans.
How much benzene is in toluene?
ExxonMobil Chemical, Chevron Phillips Chemical Company, and Equistar Chemicals have all manufactured toluene that contained at least 1% benzene in the last 20 years.
What is the difference between toluene and benzyl?
In toluene, a methyl group is attached to a benzene ring. In benzyl alcohol, one hydroxyl group is attached to the benzyl group. A benzyl group is a combination of methylene group with phenyl group.
Why is toluene safer than benzene?
What makes toluene and xylene less carcinogenic than benzene? The presence of markedly less-flat methyl group(s) in toluene and the xylenes make them both harder to intercalate DNA.
Why is toluene better than benzene?
Toluene is, however, much less toxic than benzene, and as a consequence, largely replaced it as an aromatic solvent in chemical preparation. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) states that the carcinogenic potential of toluene cannot be evaluated due to insufficient information.
Why is toluene banned?
Neurotoxicity is a critical human health concern following acute, intermediate, or chronic toluene exposure. Developmental toxicity. Toluene exposure is linked to adverse effects in developing fetuses and has the potential to cause birth defects.
Is toluene cancerous?
Studies in workers and animals exposed to toluene generally indicate that toluene is not carcinogenic (cancer-causing).
How bad is toluene for you?
Exposure to toluene can cause eye and nose irritation, tiredness, confusion, euphoria, dizziness, headache, dilated pupils, tears, anxiety, muscle fatigue, insomnia, nerve damage, inflammation of the skin, and liver and kidney damage. Workers may be harmed from exposure to toluene.
Can toluene cause leukemia?
Toluene alone is an irritant to the eyes, skin, and respiratory tract. It can be toxic when inhaled or ingested. Refined toluene contains benzene, a known carcinogen linked to leukemia and other health conditions.
Is toluene illegal?
(b) Except for lawful research, clinical, medical, dental, veterinary, industrial or manufacturing purposes, no person shall possess toluene, also known as tuleol, methylbenzene, phenylmethane or methacide, in a portable container unless the container is constructed of metal, has a tight closure, and is fitted with a ...
Is toluene cheaper than benzene?
Downstream US styrene outages have depressed benzene prices while fuel blending demand has raised toluene prices, almost eliminating the spread between the two aromatics in the US for the first half of 2015. Benzene, which has a wider variety of market uses, is normally valued higher than toluene.
Is toluene and benzene toxic?
The hallmark complications of toluene toxicity are renal tubular acidosis and hypokalemic paralysis. Benzene is known to cause hematological disorders. Rarely, both can result in death.
Is benzyl carcinogenic?
Studies show that benzyl chloride alone causes cancer in experimental animals, but there is insufficient evidence in humans. However, studies in workers have shown that combined exposures to chlorinated toluenes (such as benzyl chloride) and another chemical called benzoyl chloride may cause cancer in humans.
Are methyl benzene and toluene the same thing?
The systematic IUPAC name of toluene is methylbenzene. Toluene is predominantly in use as an industrial feedstock and a solvent. It is a common solvent like paints, paint thinners, silicone sealants, many chemical reactants, rubber, printing ink, adhesives (glues), lacquers, leather tanners, and disinfectants.
Why benzene is more carcinogenic than toluene?
Increased p53-DNA site-specific binding by benzene may be caused by damage to cellular DNA. If so, although both solvents appear to have promotional activity, the increased potential of benzene to damage DNA may be responsible to the difference in the ability of benzene to cause cancer.
What is a safer alternative to toluene?
TMO is an ether solvent that effectively replaces most hydrocarbon solvents, namely toluene. TMO is becoming an increasingly popular option for those searching for a substitute for toluene due to its highly desirable properties as a solvent: Non-polar. Low boiling point.
Is toluene more stable than benzene?
Toluene and Phenol are more reactive than benzene since their groups add electron density to the ring. Toluene's methyl group adds electron density through the inductive effect, and the hydroxyl group in phenol can delocalise one of the lone pairs on the oxygen atom into the ring (demonstrated on the whiteboard).
Why is benzene no longer used as a solvent?
The use of benzene as a solvent has declined in recent years following its classification as a hazardous compound and carcinogen (ATSDR, 2007b).
Is toluene faster than benzene?
Also, as noted earlier, toluene undergoes nitration about 25 times faster than benzene, but chlorination of toluene is over 500 times faster than that of benzene. From this we may conclude that the nitration reagent is more reactive and less selective than the halogenation reagents.
Is toluene banned in Europe?
Restricted in cosmetics in the EU; found unsafe for use in cosmetics by the International Fragrance Association Codes and Standards.
Is toluene banned in the UK?
Firstly Toluene is allowed to be used and supplied in the UK (and across the EU), it is the supply to the general public that is restricted, professional operators can purchase and use products containing it.
Is toluene in nail polish remover?
Toluene is used as a solvent in a variety of nail products, including some nail polishes, nail hardeners, and polish removers; however, its use is being phased-out.
Does toluene cause brain damage?
Toluene leads to apoptotic neurodegeneration in the cerebellum and hippocampus [12]. Besides, it causes cerebellar and pyramidal dysfunctions, peripheral neuropathy, optic atrophy, neurologic hearing loss, and temporary and/or permanent damage including cognitive functions [7, 8].
Is toluene toxic to the liver?
Gastrointestinal. GI symptoms from inhalation and ingestion may result in abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and hematemesis. Hepatotoxicity manifests with ascites, jaundice, hepatomegaly, and liver failure. A rare form of hepatitis—hepatic reticuloendothelial failure (HREF)—has been reported with toluene exposure.
What are 5 uses for toluene?
The majority of toluene is used as a component of petrol. It is also used in paints, lacquers, inks, adhesives, rubber, and cleaning agents. It is used to manufacture benzene, urethane raw materials, and other organic chemicals. It is used in the production of pharmaceuticals, dyes, and cosmetic nail products.
Does toluene absorb through skin?
Toluene can also be absorbed through your skin, especially with lengthy skin contact. Overexposure to toluene mainly affects the central nervous system (the brain), causing headache, nausea, dizziness, clumsiness, drowsiness, and other effects like those of drunkenness.
How is toluene abused?
The pulmonary route of toluene absorption is primarily via sniffing, huffing, and bagging or by spraying inhalants directly into the nose or mouth. These terms were derived from the mode of abuse and refers to the following: Sniffing refers to snorting fumes from containers through the nose.
How can you protect yourself from toluene?
If the use of toluene or materials containing toluene causes wetting of the hands, impervious gloves should be used. Toluene is likely coming in contact with workers' skin if the gloves used to protect against toluene wear out quickly, get holes or become discolored. Neoprene or nitrile gloves are preferred.
Does toluene cause infertility?
Most women interviewed were exposed to low levels of toluene, <10 ppm, and reported 50% reduction in fecundity based on time to pregnancy or periods of unprotected intercourse not leading to pregnancy, suggesting that low, daily exposure to toluene may affect fertility in human females.
Does Vaseline contain benzene?
The substance contains less than 0,1 % w/w benzene (EINECS No 200-753-7).
How do you remove benzene from your body?
If you think you may have been exposed to benzene, you should remove your clothing, rapidly wash your entire body with soap and water, and get medical care as quickly as possible.
Is toluene safer than benzene?
Toluene has largely replaced the more-toxic benzene as a solvent. Benzene is an established carcinogen, but the carcinogenicity of toluene is as yet undetermined.
Is toluene a poison?
Toluene is irritating to the skin, eyes, and respiratory tract. It can cause systemic toxicity by ingestion or inhalation and is slowly absorbed through the skin.
Is toluene hallucinogenic?
Rationale: Toluene is a misused inhalant with hallucinogenic properties and complex effects. Toluene blocks N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors, releases dopamine (DA), and modifies several neurotransmitter levels; nonetheless, the mechanism by which it produces hallucinations is not well characterized.
What is the price of 1 kg of toluene?
Price: 46.00 - 50.00 INR (Approx.)
Why is toluene so expensive?
Toluene is widely used in the production of gasoline, paints, thinners, and other products, and costs are rising due to lack of supply and increased demand from customers.
Which is more toxic toluene or xylene?
The air levels considered immediately dangerous to life or health (IDLH, NIOSH) are 500 ppm for toluene and 900 ppm for xylene. Death has been reported after exposure to toluene at 1, 800–2,000 ppm for 1 hour.
Why toluene is used instead of benzene?
Toluene has similar physical properties to that of benzene. It is a colourless liquid, insoluble in water but soluble in organic solvents. Like benzene it is a good solvent for organic compounds. It is now more widely used than benzene as it is less toxic.
Can toluene explode?
Toluene is a flammable liquid with a flash point of 4.4° C. Toluene and products containing it can form an explosive mixture with air at room temperature.
Why is benzene addictive?
Is Huffing Toluene and Benzene Addictive? Yes, both chemicals are physically and psychological addicting due to their disruption of the brain's reward pathways, specifically the nucleus accumbens and ventral tegmental areas. Like cocaine, toluene and benzene stimulate dopamine release in both areas.
What chemicals cause leukemia?
Studies in people. Rates of leukemia, particularly acute myeloid leukemia (AML), have been found to be higher in studies of workers exposed to high levels of benzene, such as those in the chemical, shoemaking, and oil refining industries.
How bad is benzyl benzoate?
At therapeutic concentrations it is a skin irritant and may cause severe stinging, especially of excoriated skin, and consequently was soon not recommended for use on children (Bradshaw, 1944).
What does benzene smell like?
Benzene has a sweet, aromatic, gasoline-like odor. Most individuals can begin to smell benzene in air at 1.5 to 4.7 ppm. The odor threshold generally provides adequate warning for acutely hazardous exposure concentrations but is inadequate for more chronic exposures.
Is toluene harmful to humans?
Toluene (C₆H₅CH₃) is a colorless liquid with a sweet, pungent odor. Exposure to toluene can cause eye and nose irritation, tiredness, confusion, euphoria, dizziness, headache, dilated pupils, tears, anxiety, muscle fatigue, insomnia, nerve damage, inflammation of the skin, and liver and kidney damage.
Does toluene contain benzene?
Unfortunately, refined toluene still contains benzene (a “known carcinogen”). As recently as 2008, some manufactured toluene contained 5% benzene, or 50,000 parts per million. This means that a product that is 60% toluene would have been 3% benzene.
Is toluene made from benzene?
Toluene is the simplest member of the class toluenes consisting of a benzene core which bears a single methyl substituent. It has a role as a non-polar solvent, a cholinergic antagonist, a neurotoxin and a fuel additive. It is a methylbenzene, a volatile organic compound and a member of toluenes.
Is toluene less toxic than benzene?
Abstract. Benzene, toluene and xylene are monocyclic aromatic hydrocarbon compounds, used both as individual compound and as mixtures, in industry as well as household. Previous studies involving exposures to these compounds, individually, have shown that benzene was more toxic compared to toluene or xylene.
How carcinogenic is toluene?
Studies in workers and animals exposed to toluene generally indicate that toluene is not carcinogenic (cancer-causing). The International Agency for Research on Cancer determined that toluene is not classifiable as to its carcinogenicity in humans (Group 3).
Why is toluene banned?
Neurotoxicity is a critical human health concern following acute, intermediate, or chronic toluene exposure. Developmental toxicity. Toluene exposure is linked to adverse effects in developing fetuses and has the potential to cause birth defects.
Why is toluene toxic?
The effects of toluene on animals are similar to those seen in humans. The main effect of toluene is on the brain and nervous system, but animals exposed to moderate or high levels of toluene also show harmful effects in their liver, kidneys, and lungs and impaired immune function.
Is toluene cheaper than benzene?
Downstream US styrene outages have depressed benzene prices while fuel blending demand has raised toluene prices, almost eliminating the spread between the two aromatics in the US for the first half of 2015. Benzene, which has a wider variety of market uses, is normally valued higher than toluene.
What is the difference between benzene and toluene solvents?
Benzene is a symmetrical molecule hence it is non-polar solvent (although it has 6 polar bonds). However, Toluene is not a symmetrical molecule because of CH3 at one side, hence it is a polar solvent.
Why benzene is more stable than toluene?
Benzene have undisturbed electron cloud- ring current and most stable…in toulene One Hydrogen of methyl group is coplaner to benzene ring and through space effect ,a.k.a hyperconjugation, put electron density in pi-electron cloud by sigma(C-H)—→ pi(C=C) and in this away activate the ring as a nucleophile for ...
What is the alternative solvent for benzene?
Toluene (C6H5CH3) is used as a substitute of benzene as fuel additives because of the similar solvent properties.
Why benzene is more carcinogenic than toluene?
What is the brother of benzene?
Is toluene a better solvent than benzene?
How do you make benzene from toluene?
What is the most toxic solvent?
Increased p53-DNA site-specific binding by benzene may be caused by damage to cellular DNA. If so, although both solvents appear to have promotional activity, the increased potential of benzene to damage DNA may be responsible to the difference in the ability of benzene to cause cancer.
Is toluene highly toxic?
Toluene has similar physical properties to that of benzene. It is a colourless liquid, insoluble in water but soluble in organic solvents. Like benzene it is a good solvent for organic compounds. It is now more widely used than benzene as it is less toxic.