2-butoxyethanol Essay

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2-butoxyethanol, a colorless liquid with a mild odor, is used in different paints, primers, and kinds of ink, along with numerous household cleaning products commonly found, to remove substances such as grease and oils. However, the usage of 2-butoxyethanol comes with risks as well. 2-butoxyethanol’s risks outweigh the rewards of it being used.

There are advantages to using 2-butoxyethanol as a key component of paints, inks, and primers. Due to its bipolar nature, it can help remove polar and nonpolar substances, and is found in many household cleaning products.

2-butoxyethanol is a solvent, meaning it helps dissolve other substances, which is found in cleaning products, liquid soap, and cosmetics. However, acute effects of exposure to the solvent can lead to severe physical defects such as liver and kidney damage. Due to its unsafe nature, it is currently not produced in certain countries such as Canada.

The MSDS, or material safety data sheet, for 2-butoxyethanol outlines basic health risks that accompany it, along with basic chemical and physical properties. One of the physical properties is the fact that it is a liquid at room temperature, which means it takes the shape of its container and its molecules are not definitively packed. Chemical properties include flammability, which is whether or not it ignites easily, and toxicity, whether or not it is poisonous to humans. 2-butoxyethanol is both flammable and toxic, meaning it does ignite easily and is poisonous to humans It says that 2-butoxyethanol has a health hazard number of two and fire hazard number of two. The health hazard number means that it can cause injury upon exposure and requires rapid medical treatment. The fire hazard number means that it can ignite w...

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...f 2-butoxyethanol vapor by humans. Toxicological Sciences, 39(2), 120-130.Retrieved from URL http://toxsci.oxfordjournals.org/content/39/2/120.full.pdf

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Johanson, G., Boman, A. (1991). Percutaneous absorption of 2-butoxyethanol vapour in human subjects. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1035455/pdf/brjindmed00035-0068.pdf. [Last Accessed 15 Dec 2013].

New Jersey Department of Health (2001). Hazardous substance fact sheet. [ONLINE]
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Sciencelab.com (2005). 2-butoxyethanol MSDS. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.sciencelab.com/msds.php?msdsId=9923187. [Last Accessed 15 Dec 2013].

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