Why do you need to measure BTEX in Ambient Air?

Accurate and reliable BTEX testing (Benzene, Toluene, Ethylbenzene and Xylenes) is critical in determining the levels of exposure and contamination in the environment. High levels of BTEX exposure can affect human health and the environment, which has resulted in a European Directive and with EPA guidelines to set allowable limits. The World Health Organisation (WHO) considers the exposure to Benzene (even at a very low concentration of part per billion) a major public health concern because human exposure to this VOC has been associated with a range of acute and long-term adverse health effects and diseases (severe effect to the central nervous system, severe damage to the liver, lungs and so on), including cancer and leukaemia. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA ) recommendation for benzene exposure is very restricted and also the European air quality directive gives the limit value of 1.5 ppb for the annual mean. It also recommends to not exceed 1 ppm as time weighted average (TWA) or 5ppm for short term exposure limit over a period of 15 minutes. The carcinogenic (leukemogenic) potential of benzene is well established as indicated by its consensus classification as a human carcinogen by the National Toxicology Program (NTP 2001), US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (IRIS 2001), and International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC 1987). Ethylbenzene is possibly carcinogenic to humans based on a recent assessment by IARC (2000). Toluene and xylenes have been categorised as not classifiable as to human carcinogenicity by both EPA (IRIS 2001) and IARC (1999a, 1999b), reflecting the lack of evidence for the carcinogenicity of these two chemicals. [1]