Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

How can you test for benzene?

Hello Nicegirl761 -

Benzene is present in gasoline and crude oil. It is both toxic and flammable. There are many Benzene detection devices on the market. A nice selection of such detectors can be found at the following web site: http://www.airmet.com.au/Services/Benze ... ction.aspx.
I hope that helps.

Are there in store devices for testing. I don't have time to order online.

Hi NiceGirl761,

I've done a quick search and found that there are three common methods: blood, breath, and urine testing. However, because benzene quickly escapes the blood and is not too accurately measured through urine, the first and the third methods won't be helpful in your case. Apparently, the breath test is supposed to be simple, but like the other tests, it is rather time sensitive and will only prove useful if exposure has been very recent. Not only that, but none of the tests will be very useful if the levels of benzene are very low, since those naturally would be hard to pick up. Nevertheless, if these factors aren't problems for your experiment, maybe you could try a doctor's office. Tests should be available there. Hope this helped, and good luck!