A nationwide survey on organic solvent components in various solvent products: Part 1. Homogeneous products such as thinners, degreasers and reagents

Organic solvent products used in the various factories were collected nationwide in Japan, and analyzed by gas chromatogarphy. Of the 1179 samples collected, 522 samples were homogeneous (including 321 thinners, 145 degreasers and 56 reagents and others), and were analyzed by means of direct injection into a FID-gas chromatograph with two FSWCOT (OV 101 and PEG 6000) capillary columns. In thinners (n=248), the average number of solvent components per sample was 4.14 when the thinners containing gasoline were excluded. Toluene was the most popular component in thinners (present in 56%) followed by ethyl acetate, methanol, xylenes, ethylbenzene, isobutyl alcohol, ethyleneglycol mono-ethylether acetate, butyl acetate and methyl isobutyl ketone. Gasoline was also detected in 23%. In degreasers (n=123), the average number of solvent components per sample was 1.64 when the degreasers containing gasoline were not taken into account. Trichloroethylene was present in 21% of degreasers followed by tetrachloroethylene, 1, 1, 1-trichloroethane, toluene, acetone, xylenes and ethyl-benzene. Gasoline was found in 14%. A small amount of 1, 4-dioxane was detected as an additive in every 1, 1, 1, -trichloroethane products. With regard to reagents and others (n=53), the avarage number of components per sample was 1.40 if samples containig gasoline were excluded, and most (73%) of reagents and others (n=41) consisted of a single component. The potent toxic solvents such as benzene, chloroform, carbon tetrachloride, 1, 2-dichloroethane, 1, 1, 2-trichloro-ethane, 1, 1, 2, 2-tetrachloroethane and carbon disulfide were only rarely found in the present homogeneous products.