I too was skeptical of the original post without any references. However, your post also did not provide references.

Wiki isn't great, but here is what I found: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trichloroethylene

   Fetal toxicity and concerns for carcinogenic potential of TCE led to its abandonment in developed countries by the 1980s.

    The use of trichloroethylene in the food and pharmaceutical industries has been banned in much of the world since the 1970s due to concerns about its toxicity.

However, I can still find some pages about "TCE Vapor Degreasing", so it is still in use today: https://www.epa.gov/assessing-and-managing-chemicals-under-t...

The saddest one I found: https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/s...

    Historically, TCE was used as a surgical anesthetic and inhaled analgesic. The Food and Drug Administration banned such use in the United States in 1977.

Woah.

> However, your post also did not provide references.

I was calling out the lies, not doing other people's research for them.

People ought to understand that this stuff stays in the industrial pipeline for years (I'm avoiding the tangent that was brought to mind by another poster's mention of carbon tetrachloride...) and we are still in the process of simply classifying it according to its dangerousness. It's not close to being gone yet.

(it's not even banned in the EU yet, and I just assume that will happen well before it's banned here)

Yes but it’s not a lie to say it was phased out in the 70s. Your comment would be more substantial and useful if you made whatever nuance you’re trying to highlight clear.

> Yes but it’s not a lie to say it was phased out in the 70s

I don't understand why you would write that, particularly after having read my comments and throwaway2037's comment on this thread. "This is a chemical that is currently produced in various forms by companies and used by people in 2023" and "it was phased out in the 1970s" would seem to be mutually contradictory facts. There's no "nuance" involved. I get that we're not giving you essay-length analysis here, but... I give up.

edit: the LMGTFY for "who makes trichloroethylene": https://www.thomasnet.com/products/trichloroethylene-8767360...

Mass, widespread, unchecked use and subsequent dumping of the chemical was phased out because that practice was understood to be harmful to people and the environment. The fact that it is now used in a controlled and regulated manner is entirely different. You either missed this nuance, or you are deliberately being obtuse to make a point that "it's technically still used" which, obviously, is true, and also doesn't contradict the fact that it was phased out in the 70s once found to be poisonous.

You're ignoring the modifier - "generally phased out" is not the same statement as "completely phased out".

For example: Generally people don't make their own clothes, is a true statement even though there's still plenty of people who make their own clothes.

Indeed. Reading these replies I can see that the real issue is one of adverbs.

If the poster you responded to is right, it is in fact a lie to say it was phased out in any meaningful manner. I don't see this comment as unhelpful - if the use just didn't stop, that's that. What is there to discuss? It was poison, it's still poison.

it's in picrin [1], which is a spot cleaning solvent. You can buy that today.

A paper from 2020 indicates that it is still used and not banned [2]

[1] https://www.a-1products.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Picri...

[2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7941732/

It's a component in some solvents a consumer might use, as you noted, but it's also used in manufacturing, in areas where a trace amount might end up in a consumer product but the major problem is for the people who are exposed to it during that item's manufacture. (or for the people who have to deal with the manufacturer's waste)

Good point about spot cleaning. I didn't know that. Here is what Google told me about it:

    Trichloroethylene has been a long-standing chemical utilized in dry cleaning and spot removal processes, but its safety towards dry cleaners' health has been questioned in recent years. In 2012, California enacted a ban on using TCE or TCE-based products for dry cleaning.