toluene
The Canadian Center for Occupational Safety and Health site posts these precautions about toluene and xylene, which is also called methylbenzene or toluol.
WHMIS classifies toluene as “very toxic.” Toluene could kill you if swallowed. It can harm unborn babies if the pregnant mother breathes toluene vapors.
If you breathe it in a confined area, such as a classroom, it can start to make your throat sore, and it can also damage your nervous system. You may lose consciousness from continued exposure, but if you’ve still got your wits about you, you might suspect the toluene fumes you’ve breathed in from your dry-erase markers if you have any of the following symptoms.
*Dizziness
* Headache
* Drowsiness
* Confusion
* Nausea
Contact with eyes or skin can cause damage similar to breathing it in, as it penetrates through the skin. If you swallow children’s markers, for example, and something gets into your lungs, it can damage your lungs and cause you to suffocate.
If you work in a noisy environment (such as a classroom) and breathe toluene fumes, you may increase your industrial hearing loss.
Emergency action if you can smell toluene or xylene
Prevent a fire by turning off all things that could start a fire. You cannot eliminate the possibility of a static spark, but that cannot be avoided.
If the toxin has been breathed in, move the victim to fresh air (for example, evacuate the classroom if you smell marker solvent). If anyone feels unwell, call a poison control center without delay.
If it gets on your skin (thankfully you can tell right away it’s on your skin if it’s the solvent for whiteboard markers due to the unusual skin color), wash gently (you don’t want to break the blisters) and thoroughly with a mild, non-abrasive soap, in barely tepid water, and hold under a slightly tepid running tap for a quarter of an hour or more.
If it does get in your eyes, rinse them with lukewarm water and a gently running tap for five minutes while holding the eyelids open with your fingers. If your eyes still hurt, see a doctor.
If the patient vomits, have the victim lean forward to try to prevent breathing back into the lungs, which could cause fatal lung damage.
xylene
This solvent can also be disguised as dimethylbenzene, methyltoluene, or xylol.
The WHMIS classification is “very toxic”.
The health hazards are very similar to those of toluene, so I won’t repeat them here, but the chances of starting a fire seem much worse. Xylene vapor in the air can even be ignited by static electricity and create an explosion.
Health Hazards of Water as a Solvent
Apparently, if you drink several gallons of water every day, you may have “water intoxication.” I didn’t know it was possible to drink so much water!
The biggest problems are fluoride and chlorine in drinking water, and an even bigger problem is DBPs (disinfectants by products) that result from killing bacteria in drinking water. DBS can be a thousand times more toxic than fluoride in drinking water.
Fortunately, water-solvent dry-erase markers use amounts of water that would not be dangerous to drink and do not give off toxic fumes. Water vapor is not a fire hazard, and only very young children claim that water damages their skin. And some brands of water-soluble inks in kids’ markers can be washed out of clothes with water without even using detergent.
Warning: You may find markers that say “Toluene Free” or “Toluene Free” and use xylene as a solvent.
The main downside to water-based markers is that their writing takes a bit longer to dry, but that means the “new” markers you buy are less likely to have dried out in the warehouse before you received them.