Abstract
Although the toxic and carcinogenic natures of benzene have been known for some time, the 10 ppm regulation governing human exposure to it as a vapor or a liquid dates only from the 1970s. The present work presents the rate at which liquid benzene breaks through certain protective garment materials and, thus, provides information concerning the protection these materials provide. Presented here are the results of such measurements on butyl, natural rubber latex, neoprene latex, nitrile latex, surgical rubber latex. Teflon, Tyvek 1422A, poly(vinyl chloride), and Viton elastomers, and the following composites or supported elastomers: butyl-coated nylon; ethylene vinyl acetate/polyethylene-coated polyester; polyethylene-coated Tyvek 1422A; poly(vinyl alcohol) and Saranex 15. Included in these determinations were studies to correlate the protective materials’ swelling and weight changes following immersion in benzene with their breakthrough time, i.e., that time at which benzene was first detected in the aqueous phase of the permeation cell. This was done in hopes that ultimately a “screening test” might be recommended concerning the permeation or lack of permeation through given materials. Also included in this report are observations of the time required for tritium from tritiated water to permeate butyl rubber, nitrile latex, surgical rubber latex, and poly(vinyl alcohol).