What is Trichloroethylene?

Trichloroethylene (TCE) is an ingredient found in certain cleaning products. This industrial solvent can damage your liver and kidneys. It can also cause harm to unborn babies. Most people come into contact with TCE at work or through polluted groundwater. 

Trichloroethylene 101

Trichloroethylene (TCE) is a clear, nonflammable liquid. It’s mostly used to clean metal parts. You can also find TCE in things like glues, wood polishes, and stain/paint remover. 

TCE isn’t a naturally-found chemical—it’s manufactured in a lab. It’s heavier than water, and smells a bit like chloroform. Apart from cleaning metals, TCE is also used to make coolants. 

Why is Trichloroethylene Toxic? 

Trichloroethylene is harmful because it can lead to kidney cancer. Certain studies also say it poses an elevated risk of liver cancer and non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

There’s clear proof that TCE can harm the kidneys, liver, brain, male reproductive organs, immune system, and developing infants. It may also cause damage to the lungs and female reproductive organs.

Trichloroethylene Products

Trichloroethylene is found in a wide range of  industrial and consumer products. It is currently used in metal degreasers, industrial solvents, laundry spot removers, and correction fluid for typewriters. TCE is also utilized in manufacturing PVC plastic, coolants, PVC plastic, flame retardants and pesticides. It is incorporated into adhesives, stain/paint remover, craft sealants, and car care products, like brake parts cleaner. Household cleaning products, such as cleaning aerosol cleaners, tool cleaners, carpet cleaner, and gun cleaner may also contain TCE.

Historically, TCE has had other uses. It was used in caulk for shipbuilding, a insecticide and rubber solvent, antifoaming agent, varnish dye, as a solvent for rubber and insecticides. The agricultural industry used it as a component of fumigant mixtures, and as a solvent for grain processing. All branches of the United States military employed TCE for equipment degreasing, leading to TCE contamination in groundwater and soil around many military bases.

In the medical field, TCE was used as an analgesic and anesthetic from the 1940s to the 1970s—even for women during childbirth. However, in 1977, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration banned trichloroethylene from being used in these capacities.

Food manufacturing once used TCE to make vegetable oils, spice extracts, and decaffeinated coffee. This practice stopped in the ‘70s after the National Cancer Institute sponsored studies that revealed that TCE was linked to cancer in mice. 

Trichloroethylene was synthesized in 1864 and patented in 1906.

Side Effects of Trichloroethylene

Exposure to trichloroethylene can harm the body in a number of ways, most notably by damaging the respiratory and central nervous systems. It can also affect your hearing, vision, coordination, and cognition.. TCE exposure can cause skin problems, nausea, headaches, and dizziness. Inhaling high concentrations of TCE can impact the liver, kidneys, and heart—potentially leading to sleepiness,  confusion, unconsciousness, and in severe cases, death by tachycardia. 

Brief exposures to TCE often result in adverse health effects including nausea, headaches, and lack of coordination. Long-term exposure is linked to depression in the central nervous system, tachycardia, and kidney failure. 

TCE exposure increases the risk of a lung disease called pulmonary veno-occlusive disease, which is when there’s a blockage in the blood vessels that move oxygen from the lungs to the heart. The best treatment for eligible patients is lung transplantation.

Studies have shown that long-term occupational exposure to trichloroethylene can lead to a neurodegenerative disorder called striatonigral degeneration, which has symptoms similar to Parkinson’s disease. Symptoms include stiffness, balance problems, slow movement, speech impairments. 

When TCE comes into contact with the skin, it can cause it to become dry, rough, and red, leading to secondary infections. One study discovered that a form of dermatitis was linked to TCE exposure and immune dysfunction. 

In the ‘60s, teens and young adults were inhaling TCE products, including Carbona cleaning solvent, for recreational purposes. This exposure lead to dizziness, euphoria, unconsciousness, sleepiness, memory loss, facial numbness, and confusion. 

How Trichloroethylene Exposure Happens

Trichloroethylene exposure can happen in several ways, including by ingestion, inhalation, or skin absorption. The workplace is where most TCE exposure happens, but it can also occur in the environment due to contaminated air, soil, and groundwater.

TCE exposure is most commonly experienced in workplaces like electronics cleaning, degreasing operations, taxidermy, silk screening, commercial laundry facilities, and dry cleaning. 

Certain communities in the United States continue to face environmental exposure risks due to TCE contamination. Over time, TCE can spread into groundwater wells, increasing the risk of exposure.

Environmental Contamination 

A TCE plume refers to an area contaminated by high TCE levels, impacting the air, soil or groundwater. Mancelona, Michigan hosts the world’s largest TCE plume, which spans 6 miles and grows by roughly 300 feet each year. About 13 trillion gallons of the town’s groundwater have been contaminated by TCE. Michigan state provided  residents with a temporary municipal water system so that they had access to safe water. 

In 2021, high levels of TCE vapor were identified in luxury apartments in Needham, Massachusetts, leading to the relocation of some residents. The source of this trichloroethylene vapor is currently under investigation by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection. 

Most notably, TCE contamination has been the subject of major news stories and even inspired the award-winning novel and film, A Civil Action. The narrative focuses on 8 families from Massachusetts who launched a lawsuit against Beatrice Foods, Unifirst Company, and W.R. Grace. They alleged these companies dumped toxic chemicals, including trichloroethylene, that contaminated the town’s groundwater and led to one adult and 7 children developing leukemia.

Is My Water Contaminated with TCE? 

In 2019, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry stated that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency finds trichloroethylene in about 4.5% to 18% of the drinking water sources they test each year. However, most city water utilities follow the rules for the highest amount of TCE allowed.

Places near chemical plants, military bases, big waste dumps, and car factories have a higher chance of TCE getting into the groundwater. If you’re worried about TCE in your water, however, you can send a sample to a certified lab to have the levels checked.

Some people and neighborhoods have sued over TCE in their water. These lawsuits led to payments to those who experienced health problems due to TCE exposure, as well as payments to the communities to clean TCE out of the groundwater. 

Should the Environmental Protection Agency Ban Trichloroethylene? 

In late 2020, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finished its final risk evaluation for trichloroethylene’s impact on public health. They found that there’s a serious risk for consumers, and people for 52 out of the 54 ways TCE is currently used. 

The EPA is now figuring out what actions they can take to mitigate these risks. This might include rules that limit or ban the manufacturing and sale of TCE. The agency announced it was thinking about banning certain uses of TCE in 2016, but the Trump Administration delayed this decision.

Minnesota became the first state to ban TCE in 2020. California banned its use in dry cleaning in 2012, and stopped its use in household products back in 2002.

In the early 1970s, the National Cancer Institute detected TCE in spice extracts and decaf coffee. Because of these findings, the FDA banned TCE use in food production in 1977.

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