1.1 What is toluene? |
1.2 What happens to toluene when it enters
the environment? |
1.3 How might I be exposed to toluene? |
1.4 How can toluene enter and leave my
body? |
1.5 How can toluene affect my health? |
1.6 Is there a medical test to determine
whether I have been exposed to toluene? |
1.7 What recommendations has the federal
government made to protect human health? |
1.8 Where can I get more information? |
References |
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May 1994 |
Public Health Statement |
for |
Toluene |
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This Public Health Statement is the
summary chapter from the Toxicological
Profile for toluene. It is one in a series of Public Health
Statements about hazardous substances and their health effects.
A shorter version, the ToxFAQs™,
is also available. This information is important because this
substance may harm you. The effects of exposure to any hazardous
substance depend on the dose, the duration, how you are exposed,
personal traits and habits, and whether other chemicals are
present. For more information, call the ATSDR Information
Center at 1-888-422-8737.
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This Statement was prepared to give you
information about toluene and to emphasize the human health
effects that may result from exposure to it. The Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) has identified 1,350 hazardous waste
sites as the most serious in the nation. These sites comprise
the "National Priorities List" (NPL): Those sites which are
targeted for long-term federal cleanup activities. Toluene
has been found in at least 851 of the sites on the NPL. However,
the number of NPL sites evaluated for toluene is not known.
As EPA evaluates more sites, the number of sites at which
toluene is found may increase. This information is important
because exposure to toluene may cause harmful health effects
and because these sites are potential or actual sources of
human exposure to toluene.
When a substance is released from a large
area, such as an industrial plant, or from a container, such
as a drum or bottle, it enters the environment. This release
does not always lead to exposure. You can be exposed to a
substance only when you come in contact with it. You can be
exposed by breathing, eating, drinking, or through skin contact
with substances containing toluene.
If you are exposed to a substance such
as toluene, many factors will determine whether harmful health
effects will occur and what the type and severity of those
health effects will be. These factors include the dose (how
much), the duration (how long), the route or pathway by which
you are exposed (breathing, eating, drinking, or skin contact),
the other chemicals to which you are exposed, and your individual
characteristics such as age, gender, nutritional status, family
traits, life-style, and state of health.
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1.1
What is toluene? |
Toluene is a clear, colorless liquid
with a distinctive smell. It is added to gasoline along with
benzene and tolueneylene. Toluene occurs naturally in crude
oil and in the tolu tree. It is produced in the process of
making gasoline and other fuels from crude oil, in making
coke from coal, and as a by-product in the manufacture of
styrene. Toluene is used in making paints, paint thinners,
fingernail polish, lacquers, adhesives, and rubber and in
some printing and leather tanning processes. It is disposed
of at hazardous waste sites as used solvent (a substance that
can dissolve other substances) or at landfills where it is
present in discarded paints, paint thinners, and fingernail
polish. You can begin to smell toluene in the air at a concentration
of 8 parts of toluene per million parts of air (ppm), and
taste it in your water at a concentration of 0.04–1 ppm. (One
part per million is equivalent to 1 minute in 2 years.)
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1.2
What happens to toluene when it enters the environment? |
Toluene enters the environment when you
use materials that contain it, such as paints, paint thinners,
adhesives, fingernail polish, and gasoline. As you work with
these materials, the toluene evaporates and becomes mixed
with the air you breathe. Toluene enters surface water and
groundwater (wells) from spills of solvents and petroleum
products as well as from leaking underground storage tanks
at gasoline stations and other facilities. Leaking underground
storage tanks also contaminate the soil with toluene and other
petroleum-product components.
When toluene-containing products are
placed in landfills or waste disposal sites, the toluene can
enter the soil and water near the waste site. Toluene does
not usually stay in the environment; it is readily broken
down to other chemicals by microorganisms in soil and evaporates
from surface water and surface soils. Toluene dissolved in
well water does not break down quickly while the water is
under the ground because there are few microorganisms in underground
water. Once the water is brought to the surface, the toluene
will evaporate into the air. Windows and doors in rooms where
toluene-containing products are used should be opened to allow
the toluene gas to escape. (When not in use, toluene
products should be tightly covered to prevent evaporation
into the air.) The toluene in the air will combine with oxygen
and form benzaldehyde and cresol. These compounds can be harmful
to humans.
Toluene can be taken up into fish and
shellfish, plants, and animals living in water containing
toluene, but it does not concentrate or build up to high levels
because most animal species can make the toluene into other
compounds that are excreted.
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1.3
How might I be exposed to toluene? |
You may be exposed to toluene from many
sources, including drinking water, food, air, and consumer
products. You may also be exposed to toluene through breathing
the chemical in the workplace or during deliberate glue sniffing
or solvent abuse. Automobile exhaust can also put toluene
into the air. People who work with gasoline, kerosene, heating
oil, paints, and lacquers are at the greatest risk of exposure.
Printers are also exposed to toluene in the workplace. Because
toluene is a common solvent and is found in many consumer
products, you can be exposed to toluene at home and outdoors
while using gasoline, nail polish, cosmetics, rubber cement,
paints, paintbrush cleaners, stain removers, fabric dyes,
inks, and adhesives. Smokers are exposed to small amounts
of toluene from cigarette smoke.
You can be exposed to toluene at some
hazardous waste sites. EPA reported in 1991 that toluene was
found in well water, surface water, or soil at 63% of the
hazardous waste sites surveyed. If you live near a waste site
and get your drinking water from a well, you might find toluene
in the water. Toluene vapors might also be present in the
air.
Federal and state surveys do not show
toluene to be a common impurity in drinking water supplies.
Toluene was found in about 1% of the groundwater sources (wells)
at amounts lower than 2 parts per billion (ppb). (This is
like 1 second in 32 years). It was found more frequently in
surface water samples at similar concentrations. If toluene
is in your drinking water you can be exposed by drinking the
water or by eating cold foods prepared with the water. Evaporation
during cooking tends to decrease the amount of toluene found
in hot foods or water. Additional exposure will occur when
you breathe in the toluene that evaporates from water while
you shower, bathe, clean, or cook with the water.
The toluene level in the air outside
your home is usually less than 1 ppm in cities and suburbs
that are not close to industry. The toluene inside your
house is also likely to be less than 1 ppm. The amount of
toluene in food has not been reported, but is likely to be
low. Traces of toluene were found in eggs that were stored
in polystyrene containers containing toluene.
Unless you smoke cigarettes or work with
toluene-containing products, you are probably only exposed
to about 300 micrograms (µg) of toluene a day. A microgram
is one one-millionth of a gram. If you smoke a pack of cigarettes
per day, you add another 1,000 µg to your exposure.
People who work in places where toluene-containing products
are used can be exposed to 1,000 milligrams of toluene a day
when the average air concentration is 50 ppm and they breathe
at a normal rate and volume. A milligram is one-thousandth
of a gram.
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1.4
How can toluene enter and leave my body? |
Toluene can enter your body when you
breathe its vapors or eat or drink contaminated food or water.
When you work with toluene-containing paints or paint thinners,
the toluene can also pass through your skin into your bloodstream.
You are exposed to toluene when you breathe air containing
toluene. When this occurs the toluene is taken directly into
your blood from your lungs. Where you live, work, and travel
and what you eat affects your daily exposure to toluene. Factors
such as your age, sex, body composition, and health status
affect what happens to toluene once it is in your body. After
being taken into your body, more than 75% of the toluene is
removed within 12 hours. It may leave your body unchanged
in the air you breathe out or in your urine after some of
it has been chemically changed to make it more water soluble.
Generally, your body turns toluene into less harmful chemicals
such as hippuric acid.
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1.5
How can toluene affect my health? |
A serious health concern is that toluene
may have an effect on your brain. Toluene can cause headaches,
confusion, and memory loss. Whether or not toluene does this
to you depends on the amount you take in and how long you
are exposed. Low-to-moderate, day-after-day exposure in your
workplace can cause tiredness, confusion, weakness, drunken-type
actions, memory loss, nausea, and loss of appetite. These
symptoms usually disappear when exposure is stopped. Researchers
do not know if the low levels of toluene you breathe at work
will cause any permanent effects on your brain or body after
many years. You may experience some hearing loss after long-term
daily exposure to toluene in the workplace.
If you are exposed to a large amount
of toluene in a short time because you deliberately sniff
paint or glue, you will first feel light-headed. If exposure
continues, you can become dizzy, sleepy, or unconscious. You
might even die. Toluene causes death by interfering with the
way you breathe and the way your heart beats. When exposure
is stopped, the sleepiness and dizziness will go away and
you will feel normal again.
If you choose to repeatedly breathe in
toluene from glue or paint thinners, you may permanently damage
your brain. You may also experience problems with your speech,
vision, or hearing, have loss of muscle control, loss of memory,
poor balance, and decreased mental ability. Some of these
changes may be permanent.
Toluene may change the way your kidneys
work, but in most cases, the kidneys will return to normal
after exposure stops. If you drink alcohol and are exposed
to toluene, the combination can affect your liver more than
either compound alone. This phenomenon is called synergism.
Combinations of toluene and some common medicines like aspirin
and acetaminophen may increase the effects of toluene on your
hearing.
In animals, the main effect of toluene
is on the nervous system. Animals exposed to moderate or high
levels of toluene may also show slightly adverse effects in
their liver, kidneys, and lungs.
Several studies have shown that unborn
animals were harmed when high levels of toluene were breathed
in by their mothers. When the mothers were fed high levels
of toluene, the unborn animals did not show any structural
birth defects, although some effects on behavior were noted.
We do not know if toluene would harm your unborn child if
you drink water or breathe air containing low levels of toluene,
because studies in people are not comprehensive enough to
measure this effect. However, if you deliberately breathe
in large amounts of toluene during your pregnancy, your baby
can have neurological problems and retarded growth and development.
Studies in workers and in animals exposed
to toluene indicate that toluene does not cause cancer. The
International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and the
Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) have not classified
toluene for carcinogenic effects. The EPA has determined that
toluene is not classifiable as to its human carcinogenicity.
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1.6
Is there a medical test to determine whether I have been exposed
to toluene? |
You can find out been exposed to toluene
by having your exhaled air, blood, and urine tested for toluene
and/or it's breakdown products. These tests may not be available
at a doctor's office, but are easily done by special laboratories.
To determine if you have been exposed to toluene, your blood
and urine must be checked within 12 hours of exposure
for the presence of toluene breakdown products. Several other
chemicals are also changed to the same breakdown products
as toluene in the body, so these tests are not specific for
toluene. Other factors, such as your weight and body fat,
your sex, and the exposure conditions, may also influence
the amount of the chemicals in your urine.
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1.7
What recommendations has the federal government made to protect
human health? |
The federal government has developed
regulatory standards and guidelines to protect you from the
possible health effects of toluene in the environment. The
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has set
a limit of 100 ppm of toluene for air in the workplace, averaged
for an 8-hour exposure per day over a 40-hour work week. The
American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists
(ACGIH) and the National Institute for Occupational Safety
and Health (NIOSH) have recommended that toluene in workplace
air not exceed 100 ppm (as an average level over 8 hours).
EPA recommends that drinking water should
not contain more than 20 ppm for 1 day, 3 ppm for 10
days, or 1 ppm for lifetime consumption. Any release of more
than 1,000 pounds of this chemical to the environment must
be reported to the National Response Center.
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1.8 Where can I get more information? |
If you have any more questions or concerns, please contact
your community or state health or environmental quality department or:
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
Division of Toxicology
1600 Clifton Road NE, Mailstop F-32
Atlanta, GA 30333
Information line and technical assistance:
Phone: 888-422-8737
FAX: (770)-488-4178
ATSDR can also tell you the location of occupational and environmental health
clinics. These clinics specialize in recognizing, evaluating, and treating illnesses
resulting from exposure to hazardous substances.
To order toxicological profiles, contact:
National Technical Information Service
5285 Port Royal Road
Springfield, VA 22161
Phone: 800-553-6847 or 703-605-6000 |
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References |
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease
Registry (ATSDR). 1994. Toxicological
profile for toluene. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services, Public Health Service.
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