Toxic substances list: tetrachloroethylene

According to the 1993 Priority Substances List Assessment Report, tetrachloroethylene was no longer produced in Canada but continued to be imported, primarily for use as a chemical feedstock and as a solvent in the dry-cleaning and metal-cleaning industries. Approximately six and a half kilotonnes was imported in 1990. Feedstock use results its transformation to another chemical, with minor releases during this process. Solvent uses were dispersive and did not result in its transformation or destruction and tetrachloroethylene was expected to enter the environment, primarily the atmosphere. Tetrachloroethylene had been measured in outdoor air and in the air inside homes within Canada, and detected in drinking water across the country and in contaminated surface waters in the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River. The substance was present in groundwaters in several provinces, often as a result of its inappropriate disposal and release from dry-cleaning and degreasing facilities or landfills.

Synonyms include: 1,1,2,2-tetrachloroethylene, tetrachloroethene, ethylene tetrachloride, carbon dichloride, carbon bichloride and perchloroethylene.

CAS (Chemical Abstract Service) registry number: 127-18-4

Risk assessment

• Priority Substances List Assessment Report
• Order Adding Toxic Substances to Schedule 1 to the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999
• CEPA 1999 Schedule 1 - List of Toxic Substances - This substance has been added to the List of Toxic Substances. It is entering or may enter the environment in a quantity or concentration or under conditions that:
  a) have or may have an immediate or long-term harmful effect on the environment or its biological diversity.
• Full life cycle management of the substance (Track 2) under the Toxic Substances Management Policy

Sources

This substance was identified to enter the environment from the following sources:

• Dry Cleaning Sector
• Solvent Degreasing

Strategic options report

Strategic Options Reports present the outcome of stakeholder consultations and set out recommended options for managing the life cycle risk associated with releases of tetrachloroethylene to the environment. The following reports are available on request:

• Strategic Options for the Management of Tetrachloroethylene in the dry-cleaning sector (1996)
• Strategic Options for the Management of Toxic Substances of Trichloroethylene and Tetrachloroethylene in Solvent Degreasing (1996)

Please contact produits-products@ec.gc.ca to request a copy of either report. 

Risk management tools

Tools developed to manage risks associated with the substance:

• Solvent Degreasing Regulations
• Tetrachloroethylene (Use in Dry Cleaning and Reporting Requirements) Regulations
• Canadian Soil Quality Guidelines for the Protection of Environmental and Human Health – Tetrachloroethylene

Other information

• National Pollutant Release Inventory (NPRI) - Information Centre
• National Air Pollution Surveillance (NAPS) Program - ECCC Data Catalogue

Contact

Substances Management Information Line
Chemicals Management Plan
Environment and Climate Change Canada
Gatineau, QC K1A 0H3

Telephone: 1-800-567-1999  (in Canada) or 819-938-3232
E-mail: substances@ec.gc.ca
 

Return to Substance List