Substance fact sheet
The National Pollutant Inventory (NPI) provides information on the types and amounts of pollutants being emitted in the Australian community.
This page provides facts about ethylbenzene. It describes how you might be exposed to this substance, how exposure might effect you and the environment, common uses, comparative data about ethylbenzene and its physical and chemical properties.
For more information about some of the terms used in this page, see the NPI glossary.
The National Pollutant Inventory (NPI) holds data for all sources of ethylbenzene emissions in Australia.
Exposure can irritate the eyes, nose and throat. High concentration can cause you to become dizzy, light headed, or to pass out. Very high levels can cause paralysis, trouble breathing and death. Prolonged exposure can cause drying, scaling and even blistering. High exposure may damage the liver. Chronic (long term) health effects can occur at some time after exposure to ethylbenzene and can last for months or years. Ethylbenzene in high levels is broken down more slowly in your body than low levels of ethylbenzene. Similarly, ethylbenzene mixed with other solvents is also broken down more slowly than ethylbenzene alone.
When you breathe air containing ethylbenzene vapour, it enters your body rapidly and almost completely through your lungs. Ethylbenzene in food or water can also rapidly and almost completely enter your body through the digestive tract. It may enter through your skin when you come into contact with liquids containing ethylbenzene. Ethylbenzene vapours do not enter through your skin to any large degree. People living in urban areas or in areas near hazardous waste sites may be exposed by breathing air or by drinking water contaminated with ethylbenzene.
In the work place exposure to ethylbenzene occurs in factories that use ethylbenzene to produce other chemicals as well as gas, petroleum and coal tar processes. Other occupational exposure may be associated with varnish workers, spray painters, and persons involved in gluing operations. Exposure to ethylbenzene occurs from the use of certain consumer products, gasoline, pesticides, solvents, carpet glues, varnishes, paints, and tobacco smoke.
See Sources for more information.
Australian Drinking Water Guidelines (NHMRC and ARMCANZ, 1996):
Health
Maximum of 0.3mb/L (ie 0.0003g/L)
Aesthetic
Maximum of 0.003mb/L (ie 0.000003g/L)
Worksafe Australia
TWA: 100 ppm 434 mg/m³
STEL: 125 ppm 543 mg/m³
The Australian NOHSC National Exposure Standards Database link is probably the most useful source of information.
Acute toxic effects may include the death of animals, birds, or fish, and death or low growth rate in plants. Ethylbenzene has high acute toxicity to aquatic life. It has caused injury to various agricultural crops. Insufficient data are available to evaluate or predict the short-term effects of ethylbenzene to birds or land animals. Chronic toxic effects may include shortened lifespan, reproductive problems, lower fertility, and changes in appearance or behaviour. Ethylbenzene has a slight tendency to bioaccumulate.
Ethylbenzene is very volatile so is mostly present in air. It can also be transported by water. It can also move very quickly into groundwater, since it does not readily bind to soil . About 99.5% of ethylbenzene will eventually end up in air; the rest will end up in the water.
Once in the air, other chemicals help break down ethylbenzene into chemicals found in smog. This breakdown happens in about 3 days with the aid of sunlight. In surface water such as rivers and harbours, ethylbenzene breaks down by reacting with other compounds naturally present in the water. In soil, the major way ethylbenzene is broken down is by soil bacteria.
Ethylbenzene is used primarily in the production of styrene and synthetic polymers. It is used as a solvent; a constituent of asphalt and naphtha; and in synthetic rubber, fuels, paints, inks, carpet glues, varnishes, tobacco products, and insecticides. It is a component of automotive and aviation fuels. It is also used to make other chemicals, including acetophenone, cellulose acetate, diethyl-benzene, ethyl anthraquinone, ethylbenzene sulfonic acids, propylene oxide, and alpha-methylbenzyl alcohol.
Point sources of ethylbenzene are factories that use ethylbenzene as part of their manufacturing process and from coal tar and petroleum processing facilities. Ethylbenzene is also emitted from some hazardous waste sites.
Ethylbenzene is emitted from a wide range of products and has been widely detected in low concentrations both indoors and outside. Indoor concentrations may be higher due to a greater number of sources. It is present in tobacco smoke.
It occurs naturally in coal tar and petroleum
Ethylbenzene will be released from fuel filling and from vapours from motor vehicle fuel tanks.
Gasoline contains about 2% ethylbenzene by weight. Other products that may contain ethylbenzene include; household paints, agricultural chemicals, automotive paints and primers, car body polish and cleaners, bathroom tub and tile cleaners, building and construction plastic foam insulation, floor polish, furniture polish and cleaners, ground/traffic marking coatings, herbicides, insecticides, laundry starch preparations, loose mineral wool fibre, non-structural caulking compounds and sealants, cleaning and sanitation products, oven cleaners, paint and varnish removers, paint thinners, rug and upholstery cleaners, carpets and rugs, sheet vinyl flooring and waterproofing compounds.
Approximately 400 substances were considered for inclusion on the NPI reporting list. A ranking and total hazard score was given based on health and environmental hazards and human and environmental exposure to the substance.
Ethylbenzene was ranked as 87 out of 400. The total hazard score taking into account both human health and environmental criteria is 1.7.
On a health hazard rating of 0 - 3 ethylbenzene registers 1.0 score of 3 represents a very high hazard to health, 2 represents a medium hazard and 1 is harmful to health.
On an environmental rating of 0 - 3 ethylbenzene registers 0.7. A score of 3 represents a very high hazard to the environment and 0 a negligible hazard.
Factors taken into account to obtain this ranking and these scores include the extent of the material's toxic or poisonous nature and/or its lack of toxicity, and the measure of its ability to remain active in the environment and whether it accumulates in living organisms. It does not take into account exposure to the substance. Environmental exposure is reflected in the NPI rank for this substance (see comparative data below). A substance that scores highly as an environmental hazard is oxides of nitrogen at 3.0 and one of the lower scores is carbon monoxide at 0.8. A substance that scores highly as a health hazard is arsenic at 2.3 and one of the lowest scores is ammonia at 1.0.
| Substance name | Ethylbenzene |
| CASR number | 100-41-4 |
| Molecular formula | C8H10 |
| Synonyms | EB, ethylbenzol, phenylethane, Ethyl Benzene |
| Physical properties: Ethylbenzene is a colourless liquid that smells like petrol. Boiling Point: 136.2 (°C) Melting Point: 94.97 (°C) Vapour Density 3.66 (air = 1) Vapour Pressure 9.53 mm Hg at 25 (°C) Specific Gravity 0.867 at 20 (°C) (water = 1) |
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| Chemical properties: Ethylbenzene is a flammable and combustible liquid. Its vapours are heavier than air and may travel to a source of ignition and flash back. In liquid form, it floats on water and may travel to a source of ignition and spread fire. I ts combustion may produce irritants and toxic gases. Ethylbenzene may accumulate static electricity and will react with oxidising materials. It is miscible with organic solvents and soluble in alcohol and ether. It evaporates at room temperature and burns easily. It moves easily into the air from water and soil and is most commonly found as a vapour in the air. |
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There is more information that may be useful in understanding some of the issues surrounding the NPI.