1,4-Dioxane

Industrial applications of 1,4-dioxane are extensive, for instance, as solvent for cellulose acetate, ethyl cellulose, benzyl cellulose, resins, oils, waxes, and some dyes; as a solvent for paper, cotton, and textile processing; and for various organic and inorganic compounds and products. It is also used in automotive coolant liquid and in shampoos and other cosmetics as a degreasing agent and as a component of paint and varnish. Human exposures to 1,4-dioxane have been traced to multiple occupations and breathing of contaminated workplace air and drinking polluted water. Industrial uses of 1,4-dioxane are very many. For instance, it is used as solvent for celluloses, resins, lacquers, synthetic rubbers, adhesives, sealants, fats, oils, dyes, and protective coatings; as a stabiliser for chlorinated solvents and printing inks; and as a wetting and dispersing agent in textile processing agrochemicals and pharmaceuticals, in different processing of solvent-extraction processes, and in the preparation and manufacture of detergents.
1,4-Dioxane is a colorless, stable liquid with a faint, pleasant odor. Although it has been known as far back as 1863, it was not until 1929 that is became commercially available. It is chemically a di-ether obtained by the loss of water from two molecules of ethylene glycol. It is completely soluble in water, as well as most organic solvents. It is freely soluble in mineral, vegetable, blown and heat-bodied oils, and oil soluble dyes. Most waxes are more readily soluble in dioxane when heated and examples of these are beeswax, carnauba, montan, paraffin, gilsonite, and Japan wax.