DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCATION, AND WELFARE
PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE
CENTER FOR DISEASE CONTROL
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[signature] J. William Lloyd, Sc.D., Director Office of Occupational Health and Biometrics |
Trichloroethylene has a powerful solvent action for fats, greases, and waxes, and it is one of the most important chlorinated solvents for use in degreasing and drycleaning. Over 90 percent of TCE is consumed by the metal degreasing and drycleaning trades.1 It is also used as an ingredient in printing inks, paints, lacquers, varnishes, and adhesives. 2 Trichloroethylene is used in minor quantities in a number of miscellaneous commercial products. 4
A pharmaceutical grade of trichloroethylene is used as a general anesthetic in surgical and obstetrical procedures and as an analgesic in the treatment of trigeminal neuralgia.3 TCE also has been used as an analgesic in dentistry for extractions, incisions of furuncles, and other short operative procedures. 4 In addition, TCE is used in the extraction caffeine for decaffeinated coffee.
Trichloroethylene was first produced in 1864 by Fischer, but did not not receive much attention as a potential chemical product until the early 1900's. It has been produced in the United States since 1925. 1 Trichloroethylene is produced from acetylene and ethylene; however, the amount produced from acetylene has been steadily declining. It is estimated that 85 percent of TCE was produced from acetylene in 1967 as compared with 51 percent in 1971.
Prolonged skin contact may cause local irritation and blister formation and, under industrial conditions, intermittent, repeated immersion of the hands in TCE has caused paralysis of the fingers.7 While TCE will penetrate the intact skin, it is considered unlikely that absorption of toxic quantities would occur by this route.8
Trichloroethylene is absorbed readily from the gastrointestinal tract, leading to respiratory failure or cardiac arrest causing death. Depending on the dose, signs and symptoms of toxicity may be delayed for several hours.4
Anesthetic doses frequently cause tachycardia or bradycardia and tachypnea. Cardiac arrhythmias are common but convulsions are rare. 4 Trichloroethylene, when inhaled by pregnant women, diffuses rapidly across the placenta.9
Deliberate inhalation of moderate concentrations of TCE induces a state of euphoria which has led to addiction.1,10 Sniffing commercial products containing TCE is a method for getting "high" among adolescents. 11,12 The disappearance of disorientation, visual hallucinations, delusions, and other psychotic symptoms coincides with a fall in urinary levels of trichloroethylene metabolites. 10 It has been reported that the administration of glucose or insulin increases the amount and speed of excretion of metabolites of TCE.13 Liver and kidney injuries attributed to overexposure to TCE are considered rare.14 However, severe injuries to both the liver and kidneys have been reported. 1
To date there have been no published reports of any association between TCE and cancer in humans.
Death in laboratory animals from an acute exposure to TCE vapor may result from respiratory failure or cardiac arrest.6,15 Trichloroethylene is reported to have direct action on the bone marrow of rabbits causing myelotoxic anemia.16 It causes residual brain damage in rats17, and produces liver and kidney changes and growth depression in a variety of laboratory animals.6
The National Cancer Institute (NCI) tested trichloroethylene by gastric intubation in both sexes of Osborne Mendel rats and B6C3F mice. Two dose levels were given in each animal group, five times weekly. Both sexes of rats were given either 1000 mg/kg or 500 mg/kg doses. Male mice were given 2400 mg/kg or 1200 mg/kg doses; female mice were given 1800 mg/kg or 900 mg/kg doses. No hepatocellular carcinomas were seen in the rats; 30 of 98 (30.6%) of the mice given the low dose, and 41 of 95 (43.2%) of the mice given the higher dose had hepatocellular carcinomas. Only one of 40 (2.5%) control mice developed these carcinomas.*
It should be noted that the National Cancer Institute information is
the first report associating TCE with cancer in animals.
On July 23, 1973, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health transmitted criteria for a recommended standard on trichloroethylene to the Department of Labor.
Company | Location |
Diamond Shamrock Corp. Chems. Div. |
Deer Park, Texas |
Dow Chemical U.S.A. | Freeport, Texas |
Ethyl Corp. | Baton Rouge, Louisiana |
Occidental Petroleum Corp. Chem. Corp., subsid. & Specialities Div. |
Taft, Louisiana |
PPG Indust., Inc. . Div. . Chem. Div. |
Lake Charles, Louisiana |
Industry | Estimated No. Exposed ** |
Agricultural Services | 124 |
Oil and Gas Extraction | 267 |
Ordnance | 57 |
Food Products | 2,502 |
Textile Mill Products | 1,014 |
Apparel/Textile Products | 858 |
Lumber Products | 72 |
Furniture Manufacturing | 162 |
Paper Products Manufacturing | 2,240 |
Printing Trades | 2,876 |
Chemical Manufacturing | 9,552 |
Petroleum Products | 713 |
Rubber - Plastics Manufacturing | 4,985 |
Leather Products | 725 |
Stone/Clay Products | 2,685 |
Primary Steel Manufacturing | 11,672 |
Metal Fabrication | 11,709 |
Machinery Manufacturing | 7,481 |
Electrical Equipment | 66,727 |
Transportation Equipment | 54,174 |
Instrument Manufacturing | 4,815 |
Miscellaneous Manufacturing | 1,516 |
Trucking/Warehousing | 642 |
Air Transportation | 23 |
Communication | 5,560 |
Wholesale Trade | 3,327 |
Automotive Dealer | 223 |
Furniture Stores | 597 |
Banking | 2,391 |
Personal Services | 583 |
Miscellaneous Business Services | 27,759 |
Auto Repair | 5,246 |
Miscellaneous Repair | 17,198 |
Amusement Services | 7,987 |
Mechanical Services | 20,053 |
Miscellaneous | 4,138 |
Estimated Total | 282,653 |
**Projections based on preliminary data obtained from the National Occupational Hazard Survey, Hazard Surveillance Branch, Office of Occupational Health Surveillance and Biometrics, NIOSH. (Does not include anesthetic use or use in tradename products). [return to table]
***The 1974 Hospital Inhalation Producer Survey, conducted by the Division of Field Studies and Clinical Investigations, NIOSH, and a personal communication from a representative of the American Dental Association, 1975. [return to text]
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This page was last updated: 27, 1997
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