Indoor environment factor · measured in µg/m³
Xylene
Part of: Volatile organic compounds (VOCs)
Also: xylenes, dimethylbenzene, m-xylene, p-xylene, o-xylene, BTEX
An aromatic solvent supplied as a mixture of three isomers, used in paints, adhesives, varnishes and printing inks. Indoors it is one of the group measured together with benzene, toluene and ethylbenzene as a marker of solvent-borne products and of traffic.
Where it comes from indoors
Xylene belongs to the group of aromatic solvents that indoor surveys almost always report together, because they are captured by the same method and because they share their sources: solvent-borne paints, adhesives, varnishes, inks and cleaning solvents indoors, and vehicle exhaust and fuel vapour outdoors.
Reading a measurement therefore means reading the ratios rather than the single value. A high xylene concentration alongside high toluene and comparatively little benzene points to a solvent product in the room; the reverse pattern points to combustion or to traffic coming in from outside.
Concentrations indoors are usually well above those outdoors and follow activity closely: painting, gluing and printing raise them for hours to days, and a new car or a newly fitted interior can hold them for far longer. Unlike benzene, xylene is not classified as a human carcinogen; its recognised effects are on the nervous system at higher exposures.
What the studies report
| Linked to | Effect | Population | Study design | Source | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adhesives and sealants | other 45.51 | — · test chamber | chamber study of 21 volatile pollutants emitted by white emulsion and silicone adhesives: chemical concentrations, odour contributions and cancer and non-cancer health risks of each compound | F-1078 Zhao et al. Characterizing Key Volatile Pollutants Emitted from Adhesive… (2022) | machine |
| — | other 12.9 | children and adolescents aged 0 to 19 years | health risk assessment of volatile organic compounds for children in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia: benzene, toluene, m,p-xylene and formaldehyde sampled at 144 sites in kindergartens, schools, apartments, houses, traditional gers, hospitals, offices and shopping centres, with lifetime dose and cancer risk calculated by age group | F-1090 Otgonbyamba et al. Health Risk Assessment of Volatile Organic Compounds for Chi… (2023) | machine |
| — | mean 75.9 | children and adolescents aged 0 to 19 years | health risk assessment of volatile organic compounds for children in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia: benzene, toluene, m,p-xylene and formaldehyde sampled at 144 sites in kindergartens, schools, apartments, houses, traditional gers, hospitals, offices and shopping centres, with lifetime dose and cancer risk calculated by age group | F-1093 Otgonbyamba et al. Health Risk Assessment of Volatile Organic Compounds for Chi… (2023) | machine |
| Printers and photocopiers | other 40.5 | — · test chamber | chamber measurements of volatile organic compounds emitted by office printers and copiers in Poland: seven devices tested, with aromatic and halogenated compounds and total volatile organic compounds determined per device and per printed page | F-1097 Measurements of chlorinated volatile organic compounds emitt… (2014) | machine |
| — | mean 4.18 | university students | measurement study on a Chinese university campus: volatile organic compounds sampled in a dormitory, a canteen, a classroom and a library across four seasons and at different times of day, with time-activity data from a questionnaire for a health risk assessment | F-1167 Jin et al. Indoor Volatile Organic Compounds: Concentration Characteris… (2023) | machine |
| — | other 943.6 | — · car cabin | development of an indoor air quality grading system for newly manufactured automobiles: volatile organic compounds measured in the cabin under parking mode of two, four and six hours and under driving mode, with hazard quotients and excess cancer risk computed and compared with the Korean guidelines for new cars | F-1536 Jung et al. Development of an Automobile Indoor Air Quality Grading Base… (2025) | machine |
Each row is one Finding — a sentence as printed in one study, recorded with its page in the Coridum Knowledge Base. Follow the Finding number for the exact wording and the citation. Checked says who verified the row: machine means every automatic check passed and the surrounding text was read; person means someone read the sentence in the document. Rows are re-checked by a person over time. The studies are curated in the Coridum Knowledge Base; the reading of them together is a Claim, shown separately.
Identifiers
Cite this page
Coridum Research. Xylene. Coridum Knowledge G-0147, 16 September 2026. https://coridum.com/k/G-0147/