Chloroform

Chloroform   (trichloromethane or     methyl trichloride)      History of Chloroform    <span style="font-size: 80%; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Chloroform was discovered in 1831 by Samuel Guthrie, an American physician. It was first used seventeen years later as an anesthetic for childbirth pain. A crude and unregulated medical system allowed chloroform to quickly become the most common anesthetic for surgery. In the U.K. and Germany between 1865 and 1920, the chemical was used in 80% to 95% of cases that required putting a patient to sleep. But widespread use allowed doctors to recognized a pattern linking chloroform to cardiac arrhythmia, cancer, and other unpleasant maladies. Slowly, its use in the medical world petered out. By 1976, it had stopped entirely. <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> <span style="font-size: 150%; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Uses: <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 120%; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Chloroform has been widely used in the production of the refrigerant R-22. However, it has slowly been phased out of world industry since the Montreal Protocol was signed in 1987. Though this is it's primary use, chloroform is used in many other ways. It has been used as an extraction and industrial solvent, a dry cleaning agent, a fumigant, and as a pesticide. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 120%; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> <span style="font-size: 80%; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> <span style="font-size: 80%; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 140%; font-family: Georgia, serif;"> Why is it considered hazardous? <span style="font-size: 80%; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: Georgia, serif;"> Exposure to high levels of chloroform can lead to kidney and liver problems, cause cancer, and disrupt the heart. <span style="font-size: 80%; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">  <span style="font-size: 80%; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">   <span style="font-size: 80%; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: Georgia, serif;">Where might we be exposed to this substance? <span style="font-size: 80%; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 120%;"> Since it has been banned in industry for a long time, chloroform poisoning is rare. These days those most at risk are people directly involved in the production of the chemical. One of the only ways normal people can be exposed to chloroform these days is by drinking contaminated water. I can't help but noting that chloroform is occasionally used as a means of suicide and homicide. <span style="font-size: 80%; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> <span style="font-size: 80%; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> <span style="font-size: 80%; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 170%;">Effects of Chloroform     <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 30%;">  <span style="font-size: 80%; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 170%;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Short term effects: <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> Long Term Effects:
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Cardiac arrhythmia
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Skin, throat, and eye irritation
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Nausea
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Narcosis
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Liver and Kidney Failure
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Is a probable carcinogen
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Can cause fetal death in pregnant women