| ETHYLBENZENE FACT
SHEET
Brief Overview:
Contaminant:
Ethylbenzene
Category: Organic
MCL:
700 PPB
Source: Manufacture
of styrene; industrial solvent
Effect: Fatigue,
headaches, damage to eyes and other organs
Followup:Treat
and retest quarterly
Treatment: Granular
activated charcoal
Details:
Source:
Ethylbenzene is a colorless organic liquid with a sweet, gasoline-like odor. The
greatest use - over 99 percent - of ethylbenzene is to make styrene, another organic
liquid used as a building block for many plastics. It is also used as a solvent
for coatings, and in making rubber and plastic wrap. Production of ethylbenzene
has increased: from 6.9 billion lbs. in 1982 to 11.8 billion lbs in 1993. It is
released to the air primarily from its use in gasoline. More localized may be
due to waste water and spills from its production and industrial use.
From
1987 to 1993, according to EPA's Toxic Chemical Release Inventory, ethylbenzene
releases to water and land totalled over 761,000 lbs. These releases were primarily
from petroleum refining industries. The largest releases occurred in Texas. The
largest direct releases to water occurred in Virginia.
What happens
to Ethylbenzene when it is released to the environment? Ethylbenzene will evaporate
rapidly from water, and will be degraded by microbes. It binds only moderately
to aquatic sediment and to soils. Thus, it may leach to ground water if released
to land. Ethylbenzene has little potential for accumulating in aquatic life.
Effect: Short-term: EPA has found ethylbenzene
to potentially cause the following health effects when people are exposed to it
at levels above the MCL for relatively short periods of time: drowsiness, fatigue,
headache and mild eye and respiratory irritation.
Long-term: Ethylbenzene
has the potential to cause the following effects from a lifetime exposure at levels
above the MCL: damage to the liver, kidneys, central nervous system and eyes.
Followup: Treat and retest quarterly.
Treatment: Granular activated charcoal
in combination with Packed Tower Aeration. |
