Investigations into the Effects of Exposure to Trichlorethylene in Mechanical Engineering

Trichlorethylene (tri) is a solvent widely used in mechanical engineering, where it is employed mainly for cleansing and degreasing.Its main advantages are that it is non-inflammable; is an excellent degreasing agent, and is relatively inexpensive.Although tri was for a long time considered to be only very mildly toxic, there has been, in recent years, a great increase in research and investigation into its toxic effects.Severe poisoning is characterized by a narcotic action which, if exposure is sufficiently prolonged, may lead to death.Chronic inhalation, continued over a period of years, seems mainly to attack the nervous system, the symptoms most frequently met with being giddiness, headaches, insomnia, tiredness, troubles of the vegetative nervous system, neuritis, and inability to tolerate alcohol.The maximum allowable concentration (m.a.c.) has been fixed by various institutions and authors as follows: American Governmental Conference on Industrial Hygiene .200p.p.m.I.C.I. (England) .400p.p.m.U.S.S.R.t 9 p.p.m.Parmegiani (University of Milan) .100p.p.m.Elkins (Boston) .150p.p.m.Ever since Barrett, Cunningham, and Johnston (1939) found that some of the tri is eliminated in the urine in the form of trichloracetic acid, several writers have set out to analyse the urine of workers and to take the quantity oftrichloracetic (T.C.A.) acid found as the criterion of exposure.Ahlmark and *This work has been made possible by the generosity of the