Smarter Living: Family Health

If you've ever fiddled with a bicycle chain, you know what a mess grease can make. Yet some of the chemicals we've been using as degreasers can make a mess of our health. One such chemical is TCE, which, despite a notorious reputation of causing cancer and birth defects, still turns up in consumer products, the workplace, and our drinking water.

Trichloroethylene (TCE) has a long history of use. From the 1920s through the 1970s, workers soaked electronic parts in it, mechanics used it to get the grease off tools, and numerous industries used it as a solvent in the manufacturing of textiles, shoes, and other goods. When the workers were done, they often just dumped it down the drain, unaware they were causing any harm.

Widespread Contamination

Today, TCE is a common contaminant at Superfund sites. It has spread into drinking water sources and is now the most frequently detected groundwater contaminant in the nation, and is estimated to affect up to one-third of our nation's drinking water supplies.

Although banned in food and cosmetics since 1977, TCE is still on store shelves in products such as automotive parts cleaners, carpet spot removers, paint strippers, adhesives, and office correction fluid. The U. S. produces over 300 million tons of TCE annually and numerous industries still use it.

Health Concerns

TCE is a multiple offender when it comes to health. With a fruity odor, TCE when inhaled produces a mild euphoria. Along with the euphoria, however, can come headache, nausea, and disorientation. Inhaling high amounts of TCE can cause cardiac arrest and sudden death.

Also heart-stopping is the revelation that an unborn child exposed to TCE is at higher risk of birth defects. Several studies have connected drinking TCE-contaminated water to an increased risk of birth defects of the heart, eyes, and facial features.

Among workers, TCE can cause chronic short-term memory loss, sleep disturbances, headaches, and other neurological symptoms. Using TCE on the job has been linked to spikes in the risk of cancers of the kidney, blood, liver, and other organs. Based on studies in workers and lab animals, the U. S. National Toxicology Program has labeled TCE as "reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen."

However workers usually come in contact with higher levels than are found in drinking water. Several studies have looked for a link between TCE-contaminated drinking water and cancer, with some studies finding a link and others finding no association. Furthermore, as a volatile organic compound (VOC), TCE readily escapes from water into the air, where it can be breathed in during showering.

What You Can Do

Your utility should test for TCE in the water supply and notify customers of its findings in an annual water quality report. Check your utility's website or call to request a copy. To be safe, an activated carbon water filter will remove TCE and other contaminants (see "Select the Right Filter").

When choosing paints, glues, and other products for house renovations, choose products marked as "low-VOC" or "no-VOC."

Check the labels of household products such as carpet spot removers before purchase. Choose products that do not contain TCE.

If you have a product that contains TCE, dispose of it at your area's household hazardous waste collection facility rather than dumping the product down a sink or into the ground where it could contaminate groundwater.

If you are doing home renovations with strong-smelling chemicals, always work in a well-ventilated space. Limit or exclude pregnant women and children from the work area.

Learn More

Toxicological Profile for Trichloroethylene (TCE). ATSDR. September 1997

Trichloroacetic Acid: U.S. EPA.IRIS Toxicological Review of Trichloroacetic Acid (External Review Draft).U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, EPA/635/R-09/003A, 2009.

last revised 1/3/2012