ARCHIVED REPORTS XR0006469 - Laserfiche WebLink

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` S GASOLINE AND ITS CONSTITUENTS ALONG WITH PCE, TCE AND DCE POSE HEALTH HAZARDS IN TWO MAJOR CLASSIFICATIONS : EXPLOSIVITY AND TOXICITY. THE EXTREME FLAMMABILITY OF GASOLINE IS COMMONLY KNOWN. THE LOWER EXPLOSION LIMIT (LEL) OF GASOLINE VAPOR IS 1 . 3 PERCENT IN AIR. IF THE 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. DCE EXPLOSIVE LIMITS IN AIR RANGE FROM 6-16% AND TCE EXPLOSIVE LIMITS IN AIR RANGE FROM 8-10 . 5% . PCE IS NONCOMBUSTIBLE. f { A LESSER KNOWN HEALTH HAZARD RESULTING FROM EXPOSURE TO GASOLINE IS TOXICITY. SEVERAL COMMON CONSTITUENTS OF GASOLINE HAVE BEEN LINKED TO VARIOUS HEALTH PROBLEMS . THE CONSTITUENTS OF GASOLINE THAT HAVE BEEN SHOWN TO CAUSE SERIOUS HEALTH PROBLEMS RESULTING 1 FROM RELATIVELY MINOR EXPOSURES INCLUDE BENZENE, TOLUENE, meta. E para, and ortho XYLENES, ETHYL BENZENE, AND TETRAETEIYL 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% 1 AND ETHYL BENZENE - 0 . 36-2 . 860 . TYPICAL PERCENTAGE OF TETRAETHYL LEAD IS NOT AVAILABLE. TETRACHLOROETHYLENE (Cl2C=CCl2 ) , 1 ,2 ,-DICHLOROETHYLENE (C1CH=CHC1 ) 3 AND TRICHLOROETHYLENE (C1CH=CC12 ) , ARE TOXINS AND CARCINOGENS . UNITS USED TO DESCRIBE OCCUPATIONAL EXPOSURES TO HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES INCLUDE: EXPOSURE LIMIT, ALSO KNOWN AS THE "THRESHOLD i ` 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 � j 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 s i POTENTIAL HUMAN CARCINOGENS . I j EXPOSURE TABLE I � SUBSTANCE EXPOSURE LIMIT CEILING LIMIT IDLH BENZENE 0 . 1ppm ( 8hrs ) 1ppm ( 15m3-n) CARCINOGEN TOLUENE 100ppm ( 10hrs ) 200ppm (10min) 2000ppm XYLENE 100ppm ( 8hrs ) 200ppm ( 10min) 1O00ppm ETHYL BENZENE 100ppm ( 8hrs ) N.A. 2000ppm r 3