• Toxicological Research
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.251-256
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• 1997

Toluene inhalation increases glutamate level and its receptor in various brain regions. In this study, nitric oxide synthase (NOS) activities were investigated in various rat brain regions using NADPH diaphorase staining method which examined histochemical changes of NOS in the neural cells. Also, in vitro LDH leakage assay and MTT test were performed to investigate the toxic influences of toluene in cultured granule cell of rat cerebellum which was significantly affected with toluene in vivo. Rats were exposed to toluene of 10000 ppm for 3 days. 7 days and 14 days by 20 min $\times$ 2 times a day. NADPH diaphorase staining was processed in the different brain regions after inhalation. NADPH diaphorase staining density was not significantly changed at 3 days inhalation group, but the density decreased in proportion to the duration of toluene inhalation. Over 30% of staining density was decreased at 14 days group which was maximum duration of inhalation in this study. The tendency of staining density decrease was significant in granule cell of cerebellum. Cell death by toluene exposure was observed in cultured cerebellar granule cell. $EC_{50}$ measured with LDH leakage assay and MTT test were 43 mM and 72 mM respectively.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.315-320
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• 2010

It has been clinically reported that toluene causes mental depression in humans. However, the detrimental effects of toluene exposure on brain function and the relation between features of mental depression and toluene exposure are poorly understood. This study evaluated depression-like behaviors in adult C57BL/6 mice after administration of toluene, and elucidated the effects of classical antidepressants on the depression-like behaviors. For the estimation of depression-like behaviors, tail suspension test (TST) and forcedswim test (FST) were performed 1, 4 and 16 days after toluene (0~1000 mg/kg bw) treatment. In addition, classical antidepressants such as fluoxetine (FLX, 20 mg/kg bw) and imipramine (IMI, 40 mg/kg bw) were administered 12 h and 1 h before the tests. In the TST and FST, toluene-treated mice exhibited a longer duration of immobility than vehicle-treated mice 1 and 4 days after toluene treatment. The depression-like behaviors were significantly reversed by FLX and IMI. The weight of the adrenal gland and the size of adrenocortical cells were significantly higher in toluene-treated mice compared to vehicle-treated controls. It is suggested that acute toluene exposure of adult mice is sufficiently detrimental to induce depression. In addition, this study has established a mouse model for a depressive state induced by toluene treatment.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.99-102
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• 2001

Toluene is mainly metabolized in liver by oxidative pathway. Oxigen free radicals occur through the process of toluene metabolism Therefore it causes tissue and cell min by the oxygen free radicals from the metabolism of toluene. Melatonin acts as a highly efficient free radical scavenger that protects cells from damage by oxygen free radicals. To test this hypothesis, toluene hepatotoxicity was induced by an abdominal injection of toluene. To see if the melatonin protects the rat's liver, melatonin was administrated orally, at the time of each toluene injection. Aspartate aminotransferase(AST), alanin aminotransferase(ALT), latic dehydrogenase(LDH) and alkaline phosphatase(ALP) levels in serum were measured to estimate hepatic function. Malondialdehyde(MDA), which gives an indirect index of oxidative injury was also measured. Hippuric acid is the last metabolic Production of toluene was measured by HPLC. There were significantly higher in AST, ALT, LDH, MDA and hippuric acid in toluene group, but there were no significant difference in melatonin group except ALT and hippuric acid. There was significantly lower in ALP level in toluene group, but there was no significant difference melatonin group, suggesting a significant hepatotoxicity due to oxygen free radicals through the process of toluene metabolism Melatonin treatment significantly protected hepatic function and free radical-mediated injury in the liver against toluene-induced changes. Accordingly, this study shows that melatonin is helpful in protecting liver injury by acute toluene intoxication.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.21 no.1 s.23
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• pp.152-162
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• 1988

Benzene and toluene, which are widely used aromatic hydrocarbons in workplace, are recently proved to cause health hazards due to their toxic effects. This study investigated the influence of toluene on the urinary excretion of benzene metabolite by administering short term exposure limit(STEL) of these compounds(i.e., 13.8mg/kg of benzene and 108.8 mg/kg of toluene) intraperitoneally into Sprague-Dawley rats. After administration, urinary phenol concentration of rat was measured by gas chromatography for every three hours. Data were analyzed by non-parametric statistical methods using Kruskal-Wallis multi-sample test and Mann-Whitney U test. The following results were obtained : 1. Administration of STEL-benzene increased urinary phenol concentration in lats. 2. Urinary phenol concentration was increased logarithmically according to the dosage of benzene. 3. Excretion of phenol in urine was decreased when benzene and toluene were administered simultaneously compared with administering benzene alone. In summary, these results reveal that administration of STEL of toluene has antagonistic effect of urinary excretion of benzene metabolite in rats.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.22 no.9
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• pp.953-957
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• 2001

The specificity of conjugation site for coating ligands was investigated using toluene-bovine serum albumin (BSA) conjugates in which BSA was conjugated at the position of o-, m-, and ${\rho}-toluic$ acid. Toluene-BSA conjugated at ${\rho}-position$ showed a binding activity of about 89-95%, whereas, those conjugated at o- and m-position of toluene exhibited a binding activity of 5 and 11%, respectively. On the basis of the above result, coating ligands with various proteins (OVA, BSA, KLH) were compared by conjugating with $\rho-toluic$ acid, and toluene-KLH was considered as the best coating ligand for this ELISA. Indirect competitive ELISA method was developed using anti-toluene antibody and $\rho-position$ conjugated toluene-KLH. The dose-response curve constructed after kinetic and optimization studies showed a 1${\times}$10-4 - 1${\times}$102 mM detectable response range with 0.1 ${\mu}M$ detectability. In specificity test of the antibody, the binding capabilities of aromatic compounds substituted with nitro-, alkyl-, chloro-, and hydroxyl group were larger rather than those of aromatic compounds (benzene, toluene and xylene) themselves. Also, tests with soil and water samples that had been spiked with toluene resulted in 102.7-113.7% recovery.

• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2018

The flash point is one of the most important parameters used to characterize the ignition and explosion hazards of liquids. Flash points were measured for several binary systems containing toluene, including {methanol+toluene}, {ethanol+toluene}, and {1-propanol+toluene}. Experiments were performed according to the standard test method using a SETA closed cup flash point tester. The measured flash points were compared with the predicted values calculated using the following $G^E$ models: Wilson, NRTL, and UNIQUAC. The average absolute deviation between the predicted and measured lower flash point was less than 1.69 K.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.40 no.5
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• pp.545-549
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• 1996

Male Sprague-Dawley rats were exposed to the toluene at 3,000${\pm}$200ppm via inhalation for two hours in the single inhalation group and three weeks by two hours per day, six da ys per week in the repeated inhalation group. The blood toluene concentration in the repeated inhalation group was significantly lower than that in the single inhalation group after 210 and 240 minutes of exposure. The peak concentration of blood toluene was 58.13${\pm}$4.63${\mu}$g/ml in the single inhalation group and 54.24${\pm}$6.87mcg/ml in the repeated at the end of 120 minutes of the exposure. The behavioral change of rats for the initial 30 minutes of the toluene inhalation showed mildly increased movement and excitement but remained calm and inhibitory behaviors after that period; more inhibitory behaviors in the single inhalation group compared with the repeated inhalation group. In open-field test, after the termination of the toluene inhalation, no difference had been statistically observed between the toluene inhalation group and the control group in ambulation, rearing, preening and grooming.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.51-58
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• 2002

Destruction process of toluene using a wire-cylindrical BBD (Dielectric Barrier Discharge) reactor packed with catalysts was investigated to characterize the synergetic effects of non-thermal plasma and catalyst process. The catalysts used in the present study were ${\gamma}$-Al$_2$BO$_3$ and Pt/${\gamma}$-Al$_2$O$_3$. Under the numerous test conditions, specific energy density (SED (J/L)) and the conversion of toluene, defined as (1 -[C$_{f}$]/[C$_{i}$]), were measured. The test results showed that toluene decomposition efficiency followed the pseudo-first order in the case of plasma only process. The pseudo-first order process, however, was modified to pseudo-zeroth order reaction in the case of catalyst-assisted plasma process. This modification of the reaction order was verified based on a simple kinetic model proposed in the present study. Owing to the modification of reaction order, which resulted from the catalytic process, the specific energy to achieve the high removal efficiencies, i.e. 80~90%, was reduced significantly.y.y.

• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.172-177
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• 2010

The values of the AIT (autoignition temperature) for fire and explosion protection are normally the lowest reported. The MAITB (Minimum Autoignition Temperature Behavior) of flammable liquid mixture is exhibited when the AITs of mixture is below the AIT of the individual components. The MAITB is an interesting experimental features, which can be significant from the perspective of industrial fire safety. In this study, the AITs of toluene + iso-propanol(IPA) and p-xylene + n-butanol systems were measured using ASTM E659-78 apparatus. The AITs of toluene, iso-propanol (IPA), pxylene and n-butanol which constituted two binary systems were $547^{\circ}C,\;463^{\circ}C,\;557^{\circ}C$ and $340^{\circ}C$ respectively. The toluene + iso-propanol(IPA) system is exhibited MAITB at 0.3 mole fraction of toluene, and its minimum autoignition temperature was $460^{\circ}C$.

• Clean Technology
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.421-428
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• 2017

In this study, we have investigated the characteristics of adsorption and desorption of toluene, methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) and their binary component using activated carbon. The BET analysis was performed to identify the characteristics of the activated carbon, and the desorption characteristics with temperature were examined to find out an optimum desorption temperature. Ten cyclic experiments of adsorption-desorption were performed, where each adsorption temperature was maintained at room temperature and desorption temperature at upto $120^{\circ}C$. In case of single component cyclic test, the efficiencies of adsorption and desorption decreased as the cycle increased. MEK which has lower affinity with activated carbon than toluene showed lower efficiencies of adsorption and desorption. In case of binary component cyclic test, a typical roll-up phenomenon was observed during adsorption process, where MEK reaches at breakpoint first and then was swept out by toluene.