Characterization of the toxicological hazards of hydrocarbon solvents

AbstractHydrocarbon solvents are liquid hydrocarbon fractions derived from petroleum processing streams, containing only carbon and hydrogen atoms, with carbon numbers ranging from approximately C5–C20 and boiling between approximately 35–370°C. Many of the hydrocarbon solvents have complex and variable compositions with constituents of 4 types, alkanes (normal paraffins, isoparaffins, and cycloparaffins) and aromatics (primarily alkylated one- and two-ring species). Because of the compositional complexity, hydrocarbon solvents are now identified by a nomenclature (“the naming convention”) that describes them in terms of physical/chemical properties and compositional elements. Despite the compositional complexity, most hydrocarbon solvent constituents have similar toxicological properties, and the overall toxicological hazards can be characterized in generic terms. To facilitate hazard characterization, the solvents were divided into 9 groups (categories) of substances with similar physical and chemical p...