What is styrene?
Styrene is a chemical used to make thousands of strong, durable products for home, school, work, and play.
What is ethylbenzene?
Ethylbenzene is commercially produced from reactions of benzene and ethylene and subsequently used to make styrene.
Why SIRC?
SIRC is an invaluable resource to organizations in the styrene and ethylbenzene industry.
Styrene is safe.
Updated Risk Assessment
SIRC is committed to sponsoring new research to better understand the potential effects of styrene on human health and the environment. In 2019, SIRC completed and published a comprehensive risk assessment to update the findings of a 2002 Harvard risk assessment.
The results of the study demonstrate that exposure to styrene from everyday consumer products, the environment, and in most workplace settings is unlikely to cause adverse health outcomes.
Human Health
For the general population, adverse health effects are unlikely to occur from exposure to styrene via consumer products or the environment.
Exposure
In normal circumstances, measured environmental concentrations of styrene in the air, water, and soil are too low to cause adverse effects on mammals, non-mammals, or microorganisms.
Research
SIRC’s approach has been—and continues to be—to sponsor new research to enhance understanding of the potential health and environmental effects of styrene and ethylbenzene.
