Handbook of Solvents - George Wypych - ChemTech - Ventech!

14.32 Summary 1047
Table 14.32.2. Reported solvent transfers from all industries in 1995 [Data from EPA
Office of Compliance Sector Notebooks]
Solvent Amount, ton/year Solvent Amount, ton/year
acetone 767 2-ethoxyethanol 2
allyl alcohol 330 ethylbenzene 4,691
benzene 792 ethylene glycol 72,549
n-butyl alcohol 3,636 hexane 8,910
sec-butyl alcohol 1,723 isopropyl alcohol 168
tert-butyl alcohol 12,749 methanol 55,287
carbon disulfide 260 2-methoxyethanol 8
carbon tetrachloride 224 methyl ethyl ketone 15,119
chlorobenzene 704 methyl isobutyl ketone 6,811
chloroform 322 N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone 1,497
chloromethane 0.5 methyl tert-butyl ether 246
cresol 594 pyridine 103
m-cresol 720 tetrachloroethylene 1,189
o-cresol 57 toluene 18,717
p-cresol 870 1,2,4-trichlorobenzene 69
cyclohexane 1,711 1,1,1-trichloroethane 1,778
cyclohexanone 1 trichloroethylene 1,967
cyclohexanol 4 trichlorofluoromethane 4
1,2-dichlorobenzene 4 1,2,4-trimethylbenzene 729
1,4-dichlorobenzene 3 xylene 27,000
1,2-dichloroethane 3 m-xylene 98
dichloromethane 2,895 o-xylene 491
N,N-dimethylformamide 1,298 p-xylene 9
1,4-dioxane 60
Methanol + xylene + toluene constitute over half (52.6%) of all released and transferred solvents
by the analyzed industries. This is in fact good news because neither of the five most
frequently released and transferred solvents is considered to have carcinogenic effect. But
four (methanol, xylene, ethylene glycol, and toluene) contribute to the pollution of lower atmosphere
and xylene and toluene cause formation of ozone in lower atmosphere by which it
may affect the respiratory system. Carbon disulfide causes formation of hydroxyl radicals
which have relatively long half-life (a few days) and thus participate in a variety of photochemical
processes. All five solvents are relatively easy to biodegrade.