Organic solvents used in enterprises of various sizes

This study was initiated to examine prevalent types of solvent used and the relative risk of high solvent exposure by types of solvent work. Air samples were collected in 1010 solvent workplaces (SWPs) (≧ 5 samples/SWP) in 156 enterprises of various sizes and analyzed for 47 organic solvents. The geometric mean values of the concentrations in the ≧ 5 samples were taken as a representative value for the SWP. Toluene was the most often detected solvent, i.e., in total (42%) of the 1010 SWPs, as well as in printing (615), painting (78%) and in adhesive spreading/adhesion work (47%). Isopropyl alcohol was the leading solvent in cases of surface coating (51%) and degreasing/cleaning/wiping work (42%). There was a reverse size dependency in solvent concentrations in air of SWPs, being five times higher in enterprises with ≦ 50 employees as compared with the level in enterprises with ≧ 501 employees. The levels tended to be high in printing workplaces especially in small enterprises. In contrast, the levels were much lower in testing and research laboratories irrespective of enterprise size. When compared with the results of a previous survey in 1996, there was a gradual shift in solvent use from toluene to other solvents, typically alcohols such as isopropyl alcohol and methanol.