Xylene

Formula: C₈H₁₀ | CAS: 1330-20-7

Detecting xylene: Xylene is an aromatic hydrocarbon widely used in industry and medical technology as a solvent.

Detecting xylene within the production of many products.

Xylene is used in the manufacture of insecticides and pharmaceuticals, as a component of detergents, and as a solvent for paints, inks, and adhesives. Xylene-containing petroleum distillates are used extensively and increasingly in blending petrol. The three isomers are used
individually as starting materials in the manufacture of various chemicals.

Xylene is used as a solvent in the printing, rubber, paint and leather industries. It is found in small amounts in airplane fuel, gasoline and cigarette smoke. In dentistry, xylene is used in histological laboratories for tissue processing, staining and cover slipping and also in endodontic retreatment as a guttapercha solvent.
– PMC National Library of medicine

Xylene affecting the nervous system

The main effect of inhaling xylene vapour is depression of the central nervous system, with symptoms such as headache, dizziness, nausea and vomiting. The effects listed below can begin to occur with exposure to air levels of about 100 ppm. They are reversible and become more noticeable and serious as the length of time of exposure increases.

Xylene (Mixed Isomers)

Commercial or mixed xylene usually contains about 40-65% m-xylene and up to 20% each of o-xylene and p-xylene and ethylbenzene. Xylene’s are released into the atmosphere as fugitive emissions from industrial sources, from auto exhaust, and through volatilisation from their use as solvents.