ATSDR's Camp Lejeune project focuses on two chemical compounds: trichloroethylene and tetrachloroethylene.

TRICHLOROETHYLENE (TCE)

Q: What is trichloroethylene? (pronounced try-klor'oh eth'uh-leen)

A: Trichloroethylene (TCE) is a nonflammable, colorless liquid with a somewhat sweet odor and a sweet, burning taste. It is used mainly as a solvent to remove grease from metal parts, but it is also an ingredient in adhesives, paint removers, typewriter correction fluids, and spot removers. 

Trichloroethylene is not thought to occur naturally in the environment. However, it has been found in underground water sources and many surface waters as a result of the manufacture, use, and disposal of the chemical. 

Q: What happens to trichloroethylene when it enters the environment? 

A: The following are known to occur when TCE enters the environment:

• Trichloroethylene dissolves a little in water, but it can remain in ground water for a long time. 
• Trichloroethylene quickly evaporates from surface water, so it is commonly found as a vapor in the air. 
• Trichloroethylene evaporates less easily from the soil than from surface water. It may stick to particles and remain for a long time. 
• Trichloroethylene may stick to particles in water, which will cause it to eventually settle to the bottom sediment. 
• Trichloroethylene does not build up significantly in plants and animals. 

Q: How might I be exposed to trichloroethylene? 

A: Exposure usually occurs in one of the following ways:

• Breathing air in and around the home which has been contaminated with trichloroethylene vapors from shower water or household products such as spot removers and typewriter correction fluid. 
• Drinking, swimming, or showering in water that has been contaminated with trichloroethylene. 
• Coming into contact with soil contaminated with trichloroethylene, such as near a hazardous waste site. 
• Contacting the chemical with the skin or breathing contaminated air while manufacturing it or using it at work to wash paint or grease from skin or equipment.

Q: How can trichloroethylene affect my health? 

A: tricloroethylene can affect human health in several ways:

• Breathing small amounts may cause headaches, lung irritation, dizziness, poor coordination, and difficulty concentrating.
• Breathing large amounts of trichloroethylene may cause impaired heart function, unconsciousness, and death. Breathing it for long periods may cause nerve, kidney, and liver damage.
• Drinking large amounts of trichloroethylene may cause nausea, liver damage, unconsciousness, impaired heart function, or death.
• Drinking small amounts of trichloroethylene for long periods may cause liver and kidney damage, impaired immune system function, and impaired fetal development in pregnant women, although the extent of some of these effects is not yet clear.
• Skin contact with trichloroethylene for short periods may cause skin rashes. 

Q: How likely is trichloroethylene to cause cancer? 

A: Some studies with mice and rats have suggested that high levels of trichloroethylene may cause liver or lung cancer. Some studies of people exposed over long periods to high levels of trichloroethylene in drinking water or in workplace air have found evidence of increased cancer.

In its 9th Report on Carcinogens, the National Toxicology Program (NTP) determined that trichloroethylene is “reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen.” The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has determined that trichloroethylene is “probably carcinogenic to humans.” The IARC Web site is www.iarc.fr.

Q: Is there a medical test to show whether I've been exposed to trichloroethylene? 

A. If you have recently been exposed to trichloroethylene, it can be detected in your breath, blood, or urine. The breath test, if it is performed soon after exposure, can tell if you have been exposed to even a small amount of trichloroethylene. 

Exposure to larger amounts is assessed by blood and urine tests, which can detect trichloroethylene and many of its breakdown products for up to a week after exposure. However, exposure to other similar chemicals can produce the same breakdown products, so their detection is not absolute proof of exposure to trichloroethylene. 

This test isn't available at most doctors' offices, but can be done at special laboratories that have the right equipment.

Q: Has the federal government made recommendations to protect human health? 

A: The EPA has set a maximum contaminant level for trichloroethylene in drinking water at 0.005 milligrams per liter or 5 parts of TCE per billion parts water. 

The EPA has also developed regulations for the handling and disposal of trichloroethylene. 

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has set an exposure limit of 100 parts of trichloroethylene per million parts of air for an 8-hour workday, 40-hour work week.

Q: Has the federal government made recommendations to protect human health? 

A: The EPA has set a maximum contaminant level for trichloroethylene in drinking water at 0.005 milligrams per liter or 5 parts of TCE per billion parts water.

The EPA has also developed regulations for the handling and disposal of trichloroethylene. 

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has set an exposure limit of 100 parts of trichloroethylene per million parts of air for an 8-hour workday, 40-hour work week.
 

TETRACHLOROETHYLENE (PCE)

Q: What is tetrachloroethylene? (pronounced tet'ra klor'o eth'eh-leen) 

A: Tetrachloroethylene is a manufactured chemical that is widely used for dry cleaning of fabrics and for metal-degreasing. It is also used to make other chemicals and is used in some consumer products.

Other names for tetrachloroethylene include tetrachloroethene, perchloroethylene, PCE, and "perc." It is a nonflammable liquid at room temperature. It evaporates easily into the air and has a sharp, sweet odor. Most people can smell tetrachloroethylene when it is present in the air at a level of 1 part tetrachloroethylene per million parts of air (1 ppm) or more, although some can smell it at even lower levels.

Q: What happens to tetrachloroethylene when it enters the environment? 

A: The following are known to occur when TCE enters the environment:

• Much of the tetrachloroethylene that gets into water or soil evaporates into the air.
• Microorganisms can break down some of the tetrachloroethylene in soil or underground water. 
• In the air, it is broken down by sunlight into other chemicals or brought back to the soil and water by rain. 
• It does not appear to collect in fish or other animals that live in water. 

Q: How might I be exposed to tetrachloroethylene? 

A: Exposure usually occurs in one of the following ways:

• When you bring clothes from the dry cleaners, they will release small amounts of tetrachloroethylene into the air. 
• When you drink water containing tetrachloroethylene, you are exposed to it. 

Q: How can tetrachloroethylene affect my health? 

A: High concentrations of tetrachloroethylene (particularly in closed, poorly ventilated areas) can cause dizziness, headache, sleepiness, confusion, nausea, difficulty in speaking and walking, unconsciousness, and death. 

Irritation may result from repeated or extended skin contact with it. These symptoms occur almost entirely in work (or hobby) environments when people have been accidentally exposed to high concentrations or have intentionally used tetrachloroethylene to get a "high."

In industry, most workers are exposed to levels lower than those causing obvious nervous system effects. The health effects of breathing in air or drinking water with low levels of tetrachloroethylene are not known. 

Results from some studies suggest that women who work in dry-cleaning industries where exposures to tetrachloroethylene can be quite high may have more menstrual problems and spontaneous abortions than women who are not exposed. However, it is not known if tetrachloroethylene was responsible for these problems because other possible causes were not considered. 

Results of animal studies, conducted with amounts much higher than those that most people are exposed to, show that tetrachloroethylene can cause liver and kidney damage. Exposure to very high levels of tetrachloroethylene can be toxic to the unborn pups of pregnant rats and mice. Changes in behavior were observed in the offspring of rats that breathed high levels of the chemical while they were pregnant.

Q: How likely is tetrachloroethylene to cause cancer? 

A: The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) has determined that tetrachloroethylene may reasonably be anticipated to be a carcinogen.

Tetrachloroethylene has been shown to cause liver tumors in mice and kidney tumors in male rats.

Q: Is there a medical test to show whether I've been exposed to tetrachloroethylene? 

A: One way of testing for tetrachloroethylene exposure is to measure the amount of the chemical in the breath, much the same way breath-alcohol measurements are used to determine the amount of alcohol in the blood. 

Because it is stored in the body's fat and slowly released into the bloodstream, tetrachloroethylene can be detected in the breath for weeks following a heavy exposure. 

Tetrachloroethylene and trichloroacetic acid (TCA, a breakdown product of tetrachloroethylene), can be detected in the blood. These tests are relatively simple to perform. These tests aren't available at most doctors' offices, but can be performed at special laboratories that have the right equipment.

Because exposure to other chemicals can produce the same breakdown products in the urine and blood, the tests for breakdown products cannot determine if you have been exposed to tetrachloroethylene or the other chemicals.

Q: Has the federal government made recommendations to protect human health? 

A: The EPA maximum contaminant level for the amount of tetrachloroethylene that can be in drinking water is 0.005 milligrams tetrachloroethylene per liter of water.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has set a limit of 100 parts per million for an 8-hour workday over a 40-hour workweek. 

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) recommends that tetrachloroethylene be handled as a potential carcinogen and recommends that levels in workplace air should be as low as possible.

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ATSDR's Camp Lejeune project focuses on two chemical compounds: trichloroethylene and tetrachloroethylene.