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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
U.S. EPA Technology Innovation and Field Services Division

Dense nonaqueous phase liquids (dnapls)

Environmental Occurrence

Halogenated Alkanes

1,1,2-Trichloroethane

1,1,2-Trichloroethane (1,1,2-TCA) is used as a solvent for fats, oils, waxes, and resins, and in organic synthesis (Lewis 2001). It is used mostly where 1,1-dichloroethene (vinylidene chloride) is made (ATSDR 1989).

EPA's Toxics Release Inventory reports that 20,262 pounds of 1,1,2-TCA were released or disposed of in 2008. Most of the releases occurred as point source or fugitive emissions to the air (18,765 pounds). As some releases do not fall under EPA's reporting requirements, this number must be considered a minimum estimate.

A search of EPA's CERCLIS database found 1,1,2-TCA reported at 131 sites.

In a U.S. Geological Survey nationwide assessment of public and private water wells, 1,1,2-TCA was not detected in public supply wells; where it was present in domestic wells, the concentrations were very low. The chemical was detected in approximately 0.18 percent of samples taken from aquifers (Zogorski et al. 2006).

References

Hawley's Condensed Chemical Dictionary, Fourteenth Edition
Lewis, R.
John Wiley & Sons, 1,223 pp, 2001

The Quality of Our Nation's Waters: Volatile Organic Compounds in the Nation's Ground Water and Drinking-Water Supply WellsAdobe PDF Logo
Zogorski, J., J.M. Carter, T. Ivahnenko, W.W. Lapham, M.J. Moran, B.L. Rowe, P.J. Squillace, and P.L. Toccalino.
U.S. Geological Survey Circular 1292, 112 pp, 2006

Toxicological Profile for 1,1,2-Trichloroethane
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), 2021

For Further Information

1,1,2-Trichloroethane, CASRN: 79-00-5
PubChem
PubChem, National Center for Biotechnology Information.