Graphite is currently planned for the high heat load areas of the ITER divertor targets. Erosion will determine both the lifetime of these components and the long term retention of tritium via the formation of hydrogen-rich carbon layers on remote areas and on the targets themselves. A reliable database exists for the chemical erosion yield of graphite under impact of energetic and thermal hydrogen in beam experiments, but although data describing the erosion behaviour of graphite targets in fusion devices have recently been compiled and critically revisited , the situation remains uncertain with respect to the role played by higher hydrocarbons in determining the total erosion yield. In JET, experiments in high-clearance L-mode discharges (H fuel, 2.43T, 2.5MA, 3.4MW NBI) have been performed in an attempt to spectroscopically determine the (molecular) carbon flux originating from chemical erosion resulting in species C2Hy.