Health & Environmental Research Online (HERO)


Print Feedback Export to File
194808 
Journal Article 
Review 
A history of the production and use of carbon tetrachloride, tetrachloroethylene, trichloroethylene and 1,1,1-trichloroethane in the United States: Part 1—historical background; carbon tetrachloride and tetrachloroethylene 
Doherty, RE 
2000 
Yes 
Environmental Forensics
ISSN: 1527-5922
EISSN: 1527-5930 
ACADEMIC PRESS LTD 
LONDON 
Environmental Forensics 
69-81 
English 
Carbon tetrachloride (CTC), tetrachloroethylene (PCE), trichloroethylene (TCE) and 1,1,1-trichloroethane (TCA) were four of the most widely used cleaning and degreasing solvents in the United States. These compounds were also used in a wide variety of other applications. The history of the production and use of these four compounds is linked to the development and growth of the United States' synthetic organic chemical industry, and historical events that affected the development and use of chlorinated solvents in general. Part 1 of this article includes a discussion of the historical background common to each of the four solvents, followed by discussion on the history of CTC and PCE. In the early years of the 20th century, CTC became the first of the four solvents to come into widespread use. CTC was used as a replacement for petroleum distillates in the dry-cleaning industry, but was later replaced by PCE. In the 1990s, CTC was phased out under the Montreal Protocol due to its role in stratospheric ozone depletion. 
chlorinated solvents; TCE; PCE; TCA