Benzene Testing

What is Benzene?

Benzene is a chemical solvent that becomes an environmental pollutant due to its release into the air. It is used commonly in the automobile industry, but also by companies that manufacture dyes, plastics, detergents, drugs, pesticides, and other organic chemicals for industrial use such as styrene, phenol, cyclohexane, aniline and more. The primary use of benzene in the U.S. is ethylbenzene. This substance is naturally found in coal tar, but is used to create paint, pesticides, and ink.

A non-exhaustive list of consumer products and their materials where benzene is found:

• Paint and paint thinner
• Dyes and inks
• Varnish and lacquers
• Solvents
• Adhesives
• Rubber
• Aerosols
• Cleaning agents
• Furniture Wax
• Gasoline and petroleum products
• Automobile coatings
• Soft drinks and other beverages
• Sunscreens and suncare products
• Hand sanitizer
• Spray deodorants
• Dry shampoo and conditioner sprays

Why should you be concerned?

Benzene is carcinogenic to humans according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) as well as the Department of Health and Human Services National Toxicology Program (NTP). Exposure to benzene can cause Leukemia along with numerous other diseases like Thrombocytopenia, Anemia, Pancytopenia, neurological abnormalities and Hepatitis B. [1] [2] [3]

The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) defines benzene as safe at no more than 2 parts per million (ppm) in drug products. [4] The World Health Organization, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have also identified benzene as a carcinogen. The EPA has established a maximum allowable level (MCL) for benzene in drinking water of 5 ppb. FDA has adopted EPA’s MCL for drinking water as an allowable level for bottled water. [5]

Benzene has been found in consumer products like sunscreen, after-sun care lotions, and hand sanitizers. Popular brands were identified recently as having harmful levels of benzene in their aerosol sunscreens after testing resulting in voluntary recalls. [6] Multiple brands of hand sanitizer have also been identified with levels of benzene beyond 2 ppm described as safe by the FDA, as well as personal care products like spray deodorants. [7] [8] There have been many other aerosol person care products such as dry hair shampoos and conditioners with levels of benzene to cause concern.

What are legislators doing about benzene?

California’s Office of Environmental Health Assessment (OEHHA) has listed benzene as a carcinogen on the California Proposition 65 list with a 6.4 µg/day and 13 µg/day No Significant Risk Level (NRSL) for oral and inhalation exposure routes, respectively. [9] Many states have enacted their own chemical legislation, which prohibit or require reporting of benzene in children’s products.  For example, Washington States Children’s Safe Products Act requires companies to report benzene at a practical quantitation limit (PQL) of 1 ppm. [10]

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) under 16 CFR §1500.14 requires special labeling of products containing more than 5 percent by weight of Benzene. [11] The Poison Prevention Packaging Act (PPPA) provides the Commission with the authority to set rules for child-resistant packaging including paint solvents containing more than 10 percent by weight of benzene. [12]

In Europe, benzene is a prohibited substance according to the European Regulation No 1223/2009 on cosmetic products [13].  According to the European Regulation No 1907/2006 (REACH), benzene shall not be used in toys or parts of toys where the concentration of benzene is greater than 5 mg/kg (0.0005 %) of the weight of the toy or part of toy [14].  Moreover, it shall not be placed on the EU market, or used, also,

• as a substance, or
• as a constituent of other substances, or in mixtures, in concentrations equal to, or greater than 0.1 % by weight.

Although there have been voluntary recalls by some companies of products containing harmful levels of benzene, there is currently little legislation requiring independent lab testing.  Therefore, products on the market could have harmful levels of benzene in circulation today.

Why choose a Eurofins company?

Eurofins Consumer Product Testing laboratories use sophisticated technology to find trace impurities in consumer and industrial products, including automated multi-purpose samplers with In-Tube Extraction (ITEX) Headspace Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry for volatiles and residual solvent analyses. Please contact us today to find out more about our validated methodology.

Chemical testing and analysis conducted at Eurofins Product Testing US Inc. internationally accredited chemical testing laboratory is based in the Greater Seattle area. We are accredited by PJLA, ILAC and CPSC (1556) to ISO/IEC 17025 standards.