People can get low level exposure when they use contaminated water for drinking or for preparing food. Chloroform can pass through the skin when people handle pure chloroform or products that contain it. For example, touching contaminated soil, or using contaminated water for activities such as bathing, swimming or doing laundry. No standards exist for regulating the amount of chloroform allowed in the air of homes.
We use a formula to convert workplace limits to home limits. Based on the formula, we recommend levels be no higher than 0. Most people can't smell chloroform until levels reach , ppbv or higher.
If you can smell the chemical, the level is too high to be safe. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources regulates the amount of chloroform that can be released into outdoor ambient air by industries.
The state groundwater standard for chloroform is 6 parts per billion ppb. The state and federal drinking water standard for total trihalomethanes in chlorinated, municipal drinking water supplies is ppb. We suggest you stop drinking water that contains more than the standard for your water supply. If levels of chloroform or trihalomethanes are very high in your water, you may also need to avoid washing, bathing, or using the water for other purposes.
A person's reaction to chemicals depends on several things, including individual health, heredity, previous exposure to chemicals including medicines, and personal habits such as smoking or drinking. Immediately or shortly after exposure to a level of ppm , ppbv of chloroform in air, a person may feel tired, dizzy, and have a headache. Chloroform can be measured in exhaled breath, urine, blood, and other tissues, but no reliable method exists to determine the level of your exposure.
Because chloroform can be formed in the body following exposure to other substances, levels found in tests cannot always be linked to just chloroform exposure. Doctors can use tests of liver, kidney, and heart function to evaluate the health effects of chloroform exposure. You can change your cookie settings at any time. This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.
To view this licence, visit nationalarchives. Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned. Chloroform is a clear, colourless, volatile liquid with a characteristic sweet odour. It is non-flammable and emits toxic fumes on decomposition. Chloroform was mainly used in the production of refrigerant HCFC chlorodifluoromethane or hydrochlorofluorocarbon 22 for use in air conditioners or large supermarket freezers.
These have been banned in new equipment since , and are being phased out from existing machinery. Chloroform is used in pesticide formulations, as a solvent and chemical intermediate in laboratories and industry, as a cleansing agent, in the production of dyes, in fire extinguishers and in the pharmaceutical and rubber industries.
It is also used in the manufacture of fluorocarbon plastics, resins and propellants. In the past, chloroform was extensively used to induce and maintain medical anaesthesia. Its use as an anaesthetic was discontinued due to the severe adverse health effects associated with its use. Chloroform can exist naturally in the environment. It is also released into the environment from workplaces where it is manufactured.
Chloroform is indirectly produced when chlorine reacts with organic compounds. Therefore, a number of water disinfection processes including chlorination of drinking water, waste water and swimming pools contribute to the formation and release of chloroform into the environment. Disinfection processes at pulp and paper plants are also potential sources of chloroform. People may be exposed to chloroform by breathing contaminated air or by eating food containing chloroform.
Drinking water may also be a source of exposure to very small amounts of chloroform. Workers involved in the production and use of chloroform and those working at sites where chloroform is indirectly produced for example water treatment plants , may be exposed to higher levels of chloroform than the general population. However, safe limits are enforced to protect the employees; such levels are below those that are thought to cause harmful effects.
The presence of chloroform in the environment does not always lead to exposure. In order for it to cause any adverse health effects, you must come into contact with it. You may be exposed by breathing, eating, or drinking the substance or by skin contact. Following exposure to any chemical, the adverse health effects that you may encounter depend on several factors, including the amount to which you are exposed dose , the way you are exposed, the duration of exposure, the form of the chemical and if you were exposed to any other chemicals.
Inhalation of chloroform vapours may lead to symptoms such as shortness of breath and dryness of the mouth and throat. Ingestion of chloroform can cause a burning sensation in the mouth and throat, nausea and vomiting. Chloroform can be absorbed into the body via ingestion or inhalation. Symptoms include excitement and nausea followed by dizziness and drowsiness. More severe exposures to chloroform may cause heart problems, fitting, unconsciousness and in some cases death.
Delayed effects up to 48 hours after the exposure of acute toxic chloroform exposure are liver and kidney damage. Skin contact with chloroform may lead to irritation and inflammation of the exposed area. Exposure of the eyes to chloroform vapour may cause a stinging sensation, and eye contact with liquid chloroform can cause immediate pain and inflammation. The International Agency for Research on Cancer has concluded that there is enough evidence in experimental animals, but not in humans that chloroform can cause cancer.
Therefore, it has classified chloroform as possibly having the ability to cause cancer in humans.
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