Inhalation of vapours can cause anaesthesia and respiratory irritation. Causes irritation in contact with skin and eyes with no residual injury. Suspected of causing cancer. Known groundwater contaminant.
Tetrachloroethylene, also known as perchloroethylene[a] or under the systematic name tetrachloroethene, and abbreviations such as perc (or PERC), and PCE, is a chlorocarbon with the formula Cl2C=CCl2. It is a non-flammable, stable, colorless and dense liquid widely used for dry cleaning of fabrics and as a metal degreasing solvent. It has a mildly sweet, sharp odor, detectable by most people at a concentration of 50 ppm.[6]
Because of its wide usage, tetrachloroethylene has been extensively assessed as a potential hazard, resulting in government publications about its potential for neurotoxicity and carcinogenesis from chronic or repeated exposure. Improper disposal has caused groundwater pollution.
History and production
French chemistHenri Victor Regnault first synthesized tetrachloroethylene in 1839 by thermal decomposition of hexachloroethane following Michael Faraday's 1820 synthesis of protochloride of carbon (carbon tetrachloride).
Faraday was previously falsely credited for the synthesis of tetrachloroethylene, which in reality, was carbon tetrachloride.[non-primary source needed] While trying to make Faraday's "protochloride of carbon", Regnault found that his compound was different from Faraday's. Victor Regnault stated "According to Faraday, the chloride of carbon boiled around 70°C (158°F) to 77°C (171°F) degrees Celsius but mine did not begin to boil until 120°C (248°F)".[7]
Tetrachloroethylene can be made by passing chloroform vapour through a red-hot tube, the side products include hexachlorobenzene and hexachloroethane, as reported in 1886.[8]
Most tetrachloroethylene is produced by high-temperature chlorinolysis of light hydrocarbons. The method is related to Faraday's method since hexachloroethane is generated and thermally decomposes.[9] Side products include carbon tetrachloride, hydrogen chloride, and hexachlorobutadiene.
Several other methods have been developed. When 1,2-dichloroethane is heated to 400°C with chlorine, tetrachloroethylene is produced:
Worldwide production was about 1million metric tons (980,000 long tons; 1,100,000 short tons) in 1985.[9] In the USA, annual production was 700million pounds (310,000 long tons) by 1978.[10]
Although in very small amounts, tetrachloroethylene occurs naturally in volcanoes along with trichloroethylene.[11]
Uses
Tetrachloroethylene is a nonpolar solvent for organic materials.[2] Additionally, it is volatile, relatively stable, and non-flammable. For these reasons, it became a leading solvent in dry cleaning operations worldwide beginning in the 1940s.[12] The chemist Sylvia Stoesser (1901–1991) had suggested tetrachloroethylene to be used in dry cleaning as an alternative to highly flammable dry cleaning solvents such as naphtha.[13]
It is also used to degrease metal parts in the automotive and other metalworking industries, usually as a mixture with other chlorocarbons. It has also been used in consumer products including paint strippers, aerosol preparations, adhesives, spot removers, and handicrafts.[2]
Historical applications
Tetrachloroethylene was once extensively used as an intermediate in the manufacture of HFC-134a and related refrigerants.
In the early 20th century, tetrachloroethene was used for the treatment of hookworm infestation.[14][15] In 1925, American veterinarian Maurice Crowther Hall (1881–1938), working on anthelminthics, demonstrated the effectiveness of tetrachloroethylene in the treatment of ancylostomiasis caused by hookworm infestation in humans and animals. Before Hall tested tetrachloroethylene on himself, in 1921 he discovered the effectiveness of carbon tetrachloride on intestinal parasites and was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, but a few years later he found tetrachloroethylene to be more effective and safer.[16] Tetrachloroethylene treatment has played a vital role in eradicating hookworms in the United States and abroad.[citation needed] Hall's innovation was considered a breakthrough in medicine.[citation needed] It was given orally as a liquid or in capsules along with magnesium sulfate to get rid of the Necator americanus parasite in humans.[17]
Chemical properties and reactions
Tetrachloroethylene is a derivative of ethylene with all hydrogens replaced by chlorine. By weight, it consists of 14.5% carbon and 85.5% chlorine. It is the most stable compound among all chlorinated derivatives of ethane and ethylene. It is resistant to hydrolysis and less corrosive than other chlorinated solvents.[9] Tetrachloroethylene does not tend to polymerise, unlike the fluorine analogue tetrafluoroethylene, C2F4, which does polymerise.
This reaction can be halted by using amines and phenols (usually N-methylpyrrole and N-methylmorpholine) as stabilisers. But the reaction can be done intentionally to produce trichloroacetyl chloride.[9]
Chlorination
Hexachloroethane is formed when tetrachloroethylene reacts with chlorine at 50–80 °C in the presence of a small amount of iron(III) chloride (0.1%) as a catalyst:[19]
The preparation of this crystalline solid compound from Tetrachloroethylene and nitrogen tetroxide was first described by Hermann Kolbe in 1869.[21]
Thermal decomposition
Tetrachloroethylene begins to thermally decompose at 400 °C, decomposition accelerates around 600 °C, and completely decomposes at 800 °C. Organic decomposition products identified were trichlorobutene, 1,3-dichloro-2-propanone, tetrachlorobutadiene, dichlorocyclopentane, dichloropentene, methyl trichloroacetate, tetrachloroacetone, tetrachloropropene, trichlorocyclopentane, trichloropentene, hexachloroethane, pentachloropropene, hexachloropropene, hexachlorobutadiene.[22]
Health and safety
The main routes of exposure to tetrachloroethylene are by inhalation, and potentially by ingestion or exposure to eyes and the skin.[23][24] Systemic effects of exposure may include depression of brain function, although with substantial acute exposure, there is risk of depressed breathing, coma or death.[23]
The largest industrial groups exposed to tetrachloroethylene include laundry and dry cleaning occupations, metalworking, metal degreasing or forging workers, and people who fabricate products from metal.[24]
Reports of human injury are not well-documented, despite its wide usage in dry cleaning and degreasing, and because rigorous research of exposure conditions and the associated risks is limited.[27][28] Although limited by its low volatility, tetrachloroethylene has potent anaesthetic effects upon inhalation.[26][29] The risk depends on whether exposure is over minutes, hours or years.[23][26]
Despite its advantages for dry cleaning and metal degreasing, cancer research and government environmental agencies have called for replacement of tetrachloroethylene from widespread commercial use.[23][25][26][30] Attempts to reduce exposure and health risks have been adopted in the dry cleaning and laundry industries by introducing closed machinery systems to minimize vapor escape and optimize recycling.[9][27][30]
Tetrachloroethylene can harm the nervous system, cause developmental deficits in children, impair vision, and increase the risk of psychiatric diagnoses.[23][25][31][32]
Carcinogenicity
Tetrachloroethylene has been classified as "Group 2A: Probably Carcinogenic" by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) due to sufficient evidence in experimental animals and limited evidence in humans for non-Hodgkin lymphoma, urinary bladder cancers, and cancers of the esophagus and cervix.[23][33]:32[34] In the United States, the EPA considers tetrachloroethylene as "likely to be carcinogenic to humans by all routes of exposure" based on suggestive evidence from human epidemiology, and certain evidence from animal toxicology studies, while the US National Toxicology Program considers tetrachloroethylene as "reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen."[25]
Assessing the IARC report, a 2023 review concurred that tetrachloroethylene is "definitively carcinogenic to humans (Group 1), linking exposure to increased cancer risks", with "substantial human evidence demonstrating a positive association between TCE exposure and kidney cancer, as well as an increased risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, cervical cancer, and liver cancer."[27]
The carcinogenic potential of tetrachloroethylene remains under-studied with only limited evidence in humans, although there is sufficient proof in experimental animals that tetrachloroethylene is carcinogenic.[23][25][27][33] Its high lipophilicity indicates that several organ systems, including the brain, kidneys, and liver, could be affected in tetrachloroethylene toxicity and carcinogenicity.[25]
Testing for exposure
Tetrachloroethylene exposure can be evaluated by a breath test, analogous to breath-alcohol measurements. Also, for acute exposures, tetrachloroethylene in expired air can be measured.[25] Tetrachloroethylene can be detected in the breath for weeks following a heavy exposure. Tetrachloroethylene and its metabolite trichloroacetic acid, can be detected in the blood.[25]
The World Health Organization published a 2010 advisory on tetrachloroethylene as a possible contaminant of indoor air and drinking water, with concern for its potential carcinogenicity.[36] Out of suspicion that tetrachloroethylene is carcinogenic, the European Union REACH program regards tetrachloroethylene as a hazardous compound requiring a warning that it may cause serious eye irritation, skin irritation, produce an allergic skin reaction, or cause drowsiness or dizziness.[37]
Similar advisories and regulatory mandates for tetrachlorethylene in the workplace and public exist in Australia,[38] Canada,[24][39] the United Kingdom,[23] and the United States.[25][26]
Out of concern for carcinogenic effects in dry cleaning workers, Canadian regulations for tetrachloroethylene were implemented in 2003 to limit national use to 1,600 tonnes per year; by 2025, the dry cleaner industry reduced the amount to 600 tonnes per year.[24]
Environmental effects
During typical industrial use, tetrachloroethylene may be released into the environment by evaporation and spills.[23][25] In air, it undergoes degradation by reacting with hydroxyl radicals, producing phosgene, trichloroacetyl chloride, hydrogen chloride, carbon dioxide, and carbon monoxide in amounts of a few micrograms per cubic metre, existing in the atmosphere for about 100 days.[23][25] Although tetrachloroethylene exists in air, surface water, and groundwater, the levels are typically low, likely causing little toxic exposure to the general public.[23]
Tetrachloroethylene exhibits high mobility in soil, and releases to soil can travel vertically and horizontally, affecting groundwater, surface water, soil gas, and indoor air. Factors like soil permeability and local climatology can enhance or inhibit tetrachloroethylene mobilization in soil; soils with low permeability, such as clay, have been demonstrated to slow mobility, while mobility is expected to be enhanced during storm events and in higher permeability soils, such as sand and gravel. A higher organic carbon content in soil may limit tetrachloroethylene's mobility due to its high soil sorption coefficient.[25]
When released to groundwater and surface water, a fraction of the release comingles with the water due to tetrachloroethylene's relatively low solubility.[25] Tetrachloroethylene readily volatilizes from water and a release can present vapor intrusion concerns. Tetrachloroethylene has a greater density than water, and sufficient quantities released to groundwater and surface water can accumulate at the bottom of a water body or aquifer and result in the formation of dense non-aqueous phase liquid (DNAPL), making remediation a difficult and long process.[25]
↑ Gribble, G. W. (1996). "Naturally occurring organohalogen compounds – A comprehensive survey". Progress in the Chemistry of Organic Natural Products. 68 (10): 1–423. doi:10.1021/np50088a001. PMID8795309.
↑ Amos, J. Lawrence (1990). "Chlorinated solvents". In Boundy, Ray H.; Amos, J. Lawrence (eds.). A History of the Dow Chemical Physics Lab: the freedom to be creative. New York and Basel: Marcel Dekker, Inc. pp.71–79.
↑ Young, M.D.; Jeffery, G.M.; Morehouse, W.G.; Freed, J.E.; Johnson, R.S. (1960). "The Comparative Efficacy of Bephenium Hydroxynaphthoate and Tetrachloroethylene against Hookworm and other Parasites of Man". American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. 9 (5): 488–491. doi:10.4269/ajtmh.1960.9.488. PMID13787477. S2CID19521345.
↑ Davison, Forrest Ramon (1940). "Tetrachlorethylene". Synopsis of materia medica, toxicology, and pharmacology for students and practitioners of medicine. p.181.
1 2 3 4 "Tetrachloroethylene Profile". CAREX Canada, School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia. 2025. Retrieved 3 November 2025.
↑ "Tetrachloroethylene". Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, Government of Australia. 15 August 2022. Retrieved 3 November 2025.
↑ Campbell, Timothy J.; Burris, David R.; Roberts, A. Lynn; Wells, J. Raymond (October 2009). "Trichloroethylene and tetrachloroethylene reduction in a metallic iron–water-vapor batch system". Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. 16 (4): 625–630. doi:10.1002/etc.5620160404. S2CID94525849.
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