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CONCENTRATION OF GASOLINE VAPOR IN AIR EXCEEDS 1 . 3 PERCENT (13 ,000 PARTS PER MILLION) AND SUFFICIENT QUANTITIES OF OXYGEN ARE PRESENT , THEN THE INTRODUCTION OF SUFFICIENT HEAT, SPARK, OR FLAME WILL RESULT IN AN EXPLOSION. i A LESSER KNOWN HEALTH HAZARD RESULTING FROM EXPOSURE TO GASOLINE i IS TOXICITY. SEVERAL COMMON CONSTITUENTS OF GASOLINE HAVE BEEN i LINKED TO VARIOUS HEALTH PROBLEMS . THE CONSTITUENTS OF GASOLINE THAT HAVE BEEN SHOWN TO CAUSE SERIOUS HEALTH PROBLEMS RESULTING FROM RELATIVELY MINOR EXPOSURES INCLUDE BENZENE, TOLUENE, meta. para, and ortho XYLENES, ETHYL BENZENE, AND TETRAETHYL LEAD. TYPICAL PERCENTAGES (BY WEIGHT) OF THESE CONSTITUENTS IN GASOLINE ARE: BENZENE - 0 . 12-3 .50% , TOLUENE - 2 . 73-21 . 80% , meta XYLENE - 1 . 77-3 . 87% , para XYLENE -- 0 . 77-1 . 58% , ortho XYLENE - 0 .68-2 . 686% , AND ETHYL BENZENE - 0 . 36-2 . 86% . TYPICAL PERCENTAGE OF TETRAETHYL LEAD IS NOT AVAILABLE. UNITS USED TO DESCRIBE OCCUPATIONAL EXPOSURES TO HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES INCLUDE: EXPOSURE LIMIT, ALSO KNOWN AS THE "THRESHOLD LIMIT VALUE" (TLV) , CEILING LIMIT , AND THE CONCENTRATION LEVEL THAT IS "IMMEDIATELY DANGEROUS TO LIFE AND HEALTH" ( IDLH) . THE EXPOSURE LIMIT DEFINES THE MAXIMUM CONCENTRATION OF A SUBSTANCE TO WHICH ONE CAN BE EXPOSED DURING AN 8 HOUR PERIOD WITHOUT SUFFERING SIGNIFICANT HEALTH EFFECTS . THE CEILING LIMIT IS THE CONCENTRATION LEVEL THAT CANNOT BE EXCEEDED AT ANY TIME; i.e. , A SUITABLE RESPIRATOR MUST BE WORN IF CONCENTRATION VALUES REACH THE CEILING LIMIT. THE IDHL LEVEL REPRESENTS A MAXIMUM CONCENTRATION FROM WHICH ONE COULD ESCAPE WITHIN 30 MINUTES OF RESPIRATOR FAILURE WITHOUT EXPERIENCING ESCAPE-IMPAIRMENT OR IRREVERSIBLE HEALTH DAMAGE. IDLH VALUES ARE NOT LISTED FOR SUBSTANCES THAT ARE POTENTIAL HUMAN CARCINOGENS . EXPOSURE TABLE SUBSTANCE EXPOSURE LIMIT CEILING LIMIT IDLH BENZENE 0 .1ppm ( 8hrs ) 1ppm ( 15min) CARCINOGEN TOLUENE 100ppm ( 10hrs ) 200ppm ( 10min) 2000ppm XYLENE 100ppm ( 8hrs ) 200ppm ( 10m-n) 1000ppm ETHYL BENZENE 100ppm ( 8hrs ) N.A. 2000ppm TETRAETHYL LEAD 0 . 0067PPM N.A. 3 . 6ppm PROLONGED EXPOSURES TO CONCENTRATIONS ABOVE THE LIMITS NOTED MAY AFFECT THE CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM, CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM, RESPIRATORY SYSTEM, EYES , SKIN, KIDNEYS , BONES AND BONE MARROW . RESEARCH HAS SHOWN THAT BENZENE, TETRACHLOROETHYLENE, CIS 1 . 2 . - DICHLOROETHYLENE AND TRICHLOROETHYLENE ARE KNOWN CARCINOGENS . IMMEDIATE SYMPTOMS OF OVER-EXPOSURE INCLUDE: EYE IRRITATION, NOSE 1