1,1,1-Trichloroethane (1,1,1-TCE) was first identified in 1840
by Henri Victor Regnault, a French chemist and physicist. 1,1,1-
TCE is a synthetic chemical that is released to the environment
primarily by human industrial activity such as by-process and
fugitive emissions during its manufacture, formulation, and use
in both consumer and industrial products, which can then
undergo thermal and photochemical chlorination. 1,1,1-TCE
was originally introduced as a replacement for other chlorinated
and flammable solvents like carbon tetrachloride.
Although trichloroethane was formerly used extensively in
a range of industrial applications and consumer products,
including such products as adhesives and adhesive cleaners,
lubricants, general purpose liquid cleaners and spray
degreasers, oven cleaners, spot removers, shoe polish, and
fabric finishes, and as a precursor for hydrofluorocarbons, it is
no longer used in common household products. 1,1,1-TCE was
one of the compounds addressed by the Montreal Protocol in
1987, which stipulates that the production and consumption of
these potentially ozone-depleting substances in the stratosphere
were to be phased out. Under this agreement, the final
phase out for developed countries for 1,1,1-TCE was 1996, with
selected exceptions for existing stocks and essential uses;
developing countries have until 2015 for their ban to take effect.
