Trichloroethylene (TCE) is a chlorinated ethylene compound commonly used as a dry cleaning and degreasing solvent.
[1] Without stabilizers, TCE is unstable and degrades easily in the presence of moisture air, light and heat, it can be minimized by adding diisopropylamine as a stabilizer.
[2][3] Various methods have been reported for its synthesis. One of them is by chlorinating ethylene dichloride.
[2] Since TCE is one of the most common industrial solvent it has led it to be a major contaminant found in the ground water. It has adverse effect on human health due to its potential toxicity and carcinogenicity.
[4] Its toxicity and carcinogenicity has been studied.
[5][6]Many methods have been proposed for the mineralization of TCE.
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