Environmental fate and effects of styrene

Enormous quantities of styrene are produced each year. Monitoring studies show that the concentrations in air usually are less than 10 mu g/m(3) and the levels in waters are usually less than 20 mu g/l. The compound is highly reactive in air, and it readily biodegrades under aerobic conditions in soils and waters. Many evaluations have been made of the toxicity of styrene. Based on the results of these toxicological studies, information on the concentrations of the compound in natural environments, and data showing its reactivity in the air, volatilization from soil and water, and rapid biodegradation, styrene is not deemed to cause deleterious effects on nonmammalian species, mammals, or natural communities of organisms as a consequence of environmental exposures, except in the immediate vicinity of a spill.