关于坊间对于px危害性的另一个流行说法——px易致癌并会引起胎儿畸形,上面有提到px会引起大鼠胚胎畸形,但其是否会影响人类胚胎,目前还并未得到证实,也没有专家学者给出一个让人信服的说法,至于致癌一说也并未得到证实,因此就算在西方国家,二甲苯仍是一种被广泛应用的可用于室内装璜的油漆和涂料溶剂,这边摘录一下瑞典化学品分类数据库中关于px应用的一段话:In Sweden, imported ortho-xylene is used for production of phthalic acid anhydride (for phthalates). The isomer mixture xylene is used as a solvent in a number of products where good solvent capacity and relatively fast evaporation are needed. Compared with toluene, the quantity of xylene is smaller in adhesives but far higher in paints. With this use again, quantities have been declining year by year.
2003年5月,欧盟委员会推出了《化学品注册、评估、授权和限制制度》的化学品新政策的法规草案(Concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals),简称REACH制度[1907/2006(EC)]。