The Home Chemical Almanac · Chapter 9
Solvents and hydrocarbons
Correct as of November 2026.
If the label says "solvent", "hydrocarbons" or "propellant"
A solvent dissolves grease and grime that water alone can't shift, then evaporates or rinses away. Glass cleaners, degreasers, spot removers, polishes and aerosols all lean on them.
Australian cleaning products don't have to list all their ingredients. Only a scheduled poison must be named on the label, with its strength, and a disinfectant must name its active ingredients. In the EU, "aliphatic hydrocarbons", "aromatic hydrocarbons" and "halogenated hydrocarbons" are official label groups that must be shown when more than 0.2% is added. The safety data sheet is the best place to find the real name.
Ethanol and isopropyl alcohol are in Chapter 7, limonene (citrus degreasers) in Chapter 8, and paradichlorobenzene (toilet blocks) in Chapter 7.
Cheat sheet
| Chemical | Badges | Also on labels as | Worst fact | Take care if |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2-Butoxyethanol | 🛢 💧 | butyl glycol, EGBE, butyl cellosolve | Swallowing 250–500 mL of 12% window cleaner caused a coma | sprays, skin, swallowing |
| Butyl diglycol | ☠ 🛢 | DEGBE, diethylene glycol butyl ether | EU bans it at 3% or more in consumer aerosol cleaners | sprays, eyes |
| PnB | 🛢 | propylene glycol butyl ether | Moderately irritating to eyes and skin | eyes |
| DPM | 🛢 | dipropylene glycol methyl ether | Absorbed through skin (Australian workplace "Sk" notation) | — |
| DPnB | 🛢 | dipropylene glycol butyl ether | Damaged chromosomes in 3 of 5 lab-dish tests | — |
| Propylene glycol | 🛢 💧 | PG, propane-1,2-diol, E1520 | Named Allergen of the Year 2018 | eczema, newborn medicines |
| Glycerin | 💧 | glycerol, glycerine, E422 | Glycerin with 24% DEG: 85 of 87 Haitian patients died | — |
| Sodium xylene sulfonate | — | SXS, hydrotrope | Hydrotropes up to 11.9% in rinse aids; irritates eyes | eyes |
| Toluene | ☠ 💧 | methylbenzene, toluol | "May damage fertility or the unborn child" | pregnancy, sniffing |
| Xylene | ☠ | xylol, dimethylbenzene | Up to 95% in some US home maintenance and car products | indoors, children |
| Butane and propane | 💧 | propellant, hydrocarbon propellant, LPG | Most common gas in Australian sniffing deaths | teenagers, flames |
| White mineral oil and distillates | ☠ 💧 | paraffinum liquidum, paraffin oil, mineral spirits, kerosene | 284,085 US swallowings of hydrocarbons by under-20s, 34 deaths | young children |
| Tetrachloroethylene | ☠ 🛢 💧 | perc, perchloroethylene, PCE | US is banning it from all consumer products | dry-cleaned clothes, indoors |
| Trichloroethylene | ☠ 🛢 💧 | TCE, trike | Known to cause kidney cancer in humans | pregnancy, skin |
☠ Poison schedule (Australia) · ⚠ Officially classed skin allergen · 🛢 Made from a hazardous chemical · 💧 Contaminant risk
The chemicals
Part 1: Glycol ethers
Glycol ethers mix with both water and oil, so they hold a cleaner together and lift grease without leaving streaks. There are two families: the "E-series", made from ethylene oxide, and the "P-series", made from propylene oxide. The smallest E-series ones (2-methoxyethanol and 2-ethoxyethanol) harm fertility and unborn babies, and industry largely moved away from them in the 1990s. None of the five here has been shown to do that at normal doses.
- 2-Butoxyethanol 🛢 💧
- Butyl diglycol (DEGBE) ☠ 🛢
- PnB 🛢
- DPM 🛢
- DPnB 🛢
Part 2: Glycols and helpers
Part 3: Petroleum hydrocarbons
These come from crude oil and natural gas. Australia's Poisons Standard lists liquid hydrocarbons (kerosene, mineral turpentine, white petroleum spirit, toluene, xylene and light mineral and paraffin oils) as Schedule 5 (Caution), with exceptions including food and pharmaceutical grade white mineral oils, solid or semi-solid products, products with 25% or less of designated solvents, and pressurised sprays.
Part 4: Chlorinated solvents
These don't catch fire and dissolve grease brilliantly, which is why they were once in spot removers and carpet cleaners. The US is now removing both from consumer products.
Safer alternatives
Carbon tetrachloride, once used in dry cleaning, spot removers and fire extinguishers, was banned from US household products in 1970. The US is now phasing out perc and TCE too. The most toxic ethylene glycol ethers also fell away: between 1980 and 1999, US use of 2-ethoxyethanol dropped 70%.
Look for these:
- Detergent and water first: most household grime doesn't need a solvent
- Lower-concern solvents on the US EPA's Safer Choice list: ethanol, isopropyl alcohol, dipropylene glycol methyl ether (DPM) and methyl soyate (soybean oil methyl esters)
- Pour or pump instead of aerosol: Australia's regulator recommended liquid streams over sprays for strong 2-butoxyethanol cleaners
- Child-resistant caps and the original container for polish, lamp oil and any solvent
Sources
Regulators and official lists
- Australian Government. Poisons Standard October 2026 (SUSMP), F2026L01327: 2-butoxyethanol; diethylene glycol monobutyl ether; hydrocarbons, liquid; toluene; xylene; tetrachloroethylene; trichloroethylene; Appendix B.
- Safe Work Australia. Hazardous Chemical Information System (HCIS): classifications for each chemical, and for ethylene oxide, propylene oxide, epichlorohydrin, benzene, 1,3-butadiene-containing butane and 1,2-dichloroethane. Workplace exposure standards (amended November 2025) and workplace exposure limits (July 2025). Labelling of workplace hazardous chemicals code of practice (2015). Trichloroethylene health monitoring guide.
- NICNAS. Priority Existing Chemical Reports No. 6: 2-butoxyethanol in cleaning products (1996); No. 8: trichloroethylene (2000); No. 15: tetrachloroethylene (2001). IMAP Tier II assessments: diethylene glycol monobutyl ether (2013); toluene (2017); xylenes (2019).
- Food Standards Australia New Zealand. Food Standards Code, Schedule 8 (2025).
- Australian Government. Australian CFC Management Strategy (2001).
- European Union. Regulation (EC) 1907/2006 (REACH) Annex XVII, entry 55; Regulation (EC) 1272/2008 (CLP) Annex VI notes K and L; Regulation (EC) 648/2004 Annex VII.
- European Medicines Agency. Propylene glycol used as an excipient (EMA/CHMP/704195/2013, 2017).
- US EPA. Trichloroethylene; regulation under TSCA, 89 FR 102568 (2024), and later notices (2025–2026); Perchloroethylene; regulation under TSCA, 89 FR 103560 (2024), and 91 FR 47145 (2026); 40 CFR 751.305 and 751.605; Carbon tetrachloride rule (2024); IRIS: ethylene glycol monobutyl ether (2010); Safer Choice Ingredient List.
- US Consumer Product Safety Commission. Child-resistant packaging for hydrocarbon-containing products, 66 FR 53951 (2001); 16 CFR 1700.14; 16 CFR 1500.17.
- US FDA. Testing of glycerin, propylene glycol and other high-risk drug components for DEG and EG (2023); 21 CFR 184.1666; 21 CFR 589.1001.
- US OSHA. Withdrawal of proposed glycol ethers standard (2003).
- ATSDR. ToxFAQs: 2-butoxyethanol; propylene glycol; toluene; xylenes.
- IARC. Monographs vol. 88 (2-butoxyethanol), vol. 106 (trichloroethylene, tetrachloroethylene); Supplement 7 (mineral oils).
- US National Toxicology Program. Technical Report 464: sodium xylenesulfonate (1998); Report on Carcinogens, 15th edition; NTP-CERHR monograph on propylene glycol (2004).
- Health Canada / Environment and Climate Change Canada. Screening assessment: ethane, propane, isobutane, butane (2017).
- OECD. SIDS initial assessment: propylene glycol ethers (SIAM 17, 2003).
- WHO. Medical product alerts on contaminated paediatric medicines (2022–2023); statement of 23 January 2023.
- Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne. Clinical practice guideline: hydrocarbon poisoning.
- California Air Resources Board. Dry cleaning program; consumer products program.
- HSDB (US National Library of Medicine), via PubChem: manufacturing, use and impurity data.
Industry assessments
- HERA. Propylene glycol n-butyl ether (2005); hydrotropes (2005).
Studies
- Dean BS, Krenzelok EP. Clinical evaluation of pediatric ingestion of glass cleaners. J Toxicol Clin Toxicol 1992;30:557-563.
- Gualtieri JF et al. Repeated ingestion of 2-butoxyethanol. J Toxicol Clin Toxicol 2003;41:57-62.
- Jacob SE, Scheman A, McGowan MA. Propylene glycol: Allergen of the Year 2018. Dermatitis 2018;29:3-5.
- Wilson KC et al. Propylene glycol toxicity in ICU patients receiving IV benzodiazepines. Chest 2005;128:1674-1681.
- O'Brien KL et al. Epidemic of pediatric deaths from acute renal failure caused by diethylene glycol poisoning (Haiti). JAMA 1998;279:1175-1180.
- Rentz ED et al. Outbreak of acute renal failure in Panama in 2006. Bull World Health Organ 2008;86:749-756.
- Sosa NR et al. Clinical, laboratory, diagnostic and histopathologic features of diethylene glycol poisoning, Panama. Ann Emerg Med 2014.
- Darke S et al. Volatile solvent misuse-related death in Australia, 2000–2021. Clin Toxicol 2023;61:260-265.
- Berling I, Chiew AL, Brown JA. Inhalant use in Australia: poisons centre calls and deaths. Addiction 2023;118:1370-1375.
- Berling I, Isbister GK. Sudden sniffing death. Addiction 2025;120:1884-1888.
- Palmer et al. Hydrocarbon ingestions among US youth, 2000–2021. Inj Epidemiol 2023;10:48.
- Sherlach KS et al. Quantification of perchloroethylene residues in dry-cleaned fabrics. Environ Toxicol Chem 2011;30:2481-2487.