The swelling of styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) when exposed to organic solvents was measured and mathematically correlated to the toluene concentration in a complex mixture such as gasoline. This relation enables inferences to be made regarding the composition and quality criteria of the fuel and represents a new method to detect adulterations. Changes in the mass and volume were measured by gravimetric and hydrostatic techniques. A simplex-lattice experimental mixture design was carried out in mixtures with toluene, heptane, and type C gasoline (a blend of gasoline with ethanol) and the mass swelling was statically analyzed for 5 and 15 min of continuous immersion in the mixtures of the solvents. For the experimental design two cubic equations were obtained with a high value for R-2-ajusted (>0.98) at 25 degrees C +/- 1 degrees C correlating mass swelling of SBR and the content of solvents. For both immersion times, the greatest and most important effect over the mass swelling was the content of toluene, with the mass variations increasing proportionally with toluene content in the gasoline. The analysis of variance applied to the mass swelling data verified that it is possible to obtain good mathematical equations to associate the rubber swelling with the solvent composition and concentration. (C) 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 127: 3053-3062, 2013