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Trichloroethylene Quickview (CASRN 79-01-6)

Health assessment information on a chemical substance is included in IRIS only after a comprehensive review of toxicity data by U.S. EPA health scientists from several Program Offices, Regional Offices, and the Office of Research and Development.

Disclaimer: This QuickView represents a snapshot of key information. We suggest that you read the IRIS Summary to put this information into complete context.

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Status of Data for Trichloroethylene

File First On-Line: 03/31/1987; Last Significant Revision: 09/28/2011

Category (section)
Status
Last Revised
Oral RfD Assessment On-line 09/28/2011
Inhalation RfC Assessment On-line 09/28/2011
Carcinogenicity Assessment On-line 09/28/2011
Synonyms
  • 79-01-6
  • Anamenth
  • Benzinol
  • Cecolene
  • Chlorilen
  • 1-Chloro-2,2-dichloroethylene
  • Chlorylea
  • Chorylen
  • CirCosolv
  • Crawhaspol
  • 1,1-Dichloro-2-chloroethylene
  • more...
Trichloroethylene Source Documents
Revision History
Date Section Description
09/28/2011 I., II., VI. RfD, RfC, and Cancer assessment added.
Chronic Health Hazard Assessments for Noncarcinogenic Effects

Reference Dose for Chronic Oral Exposure (RfD)

Critical Effect
Point of Departure*
 UF RfD
Multiple Multiple Multiple 5 x 10-4 mg/kg/day
Decreased thymus weight in female B6C3F1 mice (adult immunological effects) LOAEL(HED99): 0.048 mg/kg/day 100 candidate RfD = 4.8 x 10-4 mg/kg/day
Decreased plaque-forming cell (PFC) response, increased delayed-type hypersensitivity in B6C3F1 mice (development Immunotoxicity) LOAEL: 0.37 mg/kg/day 1,000 candidate RfD = 3.7 x 10-4 mg/kg/day
Increased fetal cardiac malformations in Sprague-Dawley rats (heart malformations) BMDL01(HED99): 0.0051 mg/kg/day 10 candidate RfD = 5.1 x 10-4 mg/kg/day

* The Point of Departure listed serves as a basis from which the Oral RfD was derived. See Discussion of Conversion Factors and Assumptions for more details.

  • Principal and Supporting Studies (Oral RfD)
    • 30-week drinking water study , Keil et al., 2009 (adult immunological effects)
    • Drinking water exposure from gestation day (GD) 0 to 3 or 8 weeks of age , Peden-Adams et al., 2006 (development immunotoxicity)
    • Drinking water exposure from GD 1 to 22 , Johnson et al., 2003 (heart malformations)
  • Confidence in the Oral RfD
    • Study -- Medium/High (adult immunological effects and developmental immunotoxicity); Medium (heart malformations)
    • Database -- High
    • RfD -- High

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Reference Concentration for Chronic Inhalation Exposure (RfC)

Critical Effect
Point of Departure*
 UF RfC
Multiple Multiple Multiple 0.002 mg/m3
Decreased thymus weight in female B6C3F1 mice (immunotoxicity) LOAEL (HEC99): 0.19 mg/m3 100 candidate RfC = 0.0019 mg/m3
Increased fetal cardiac malformations in Sprague-Dawley rats (heart malformations) BMDL01 (HEC99): 0.021 mg/m3 10 candidate RfC = 0.0021 mg/m3

* The Point of Departure listed serves as a basis from which the Inhalation RfC was derived. See Discussion of Conversion Factors and Assumptions for more details.

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Carcinogenicity Assessment for Lifetime Exposure
  • Weight-of-Evidence Characterization
    • Carcinogenic to humans
  • Weight-of-Evidence Narrative:
    • Following U.S. EPA (2005b) Guidelines for Carcinogen Risk Assessment, TCE is characterized as "carcinogenic to humans" by all routes of exposure.
    • This may be a synopsis of the full weight-of-evidence narrative. See IRIS Summary.

Quantitative Estimate of Carcinogenic Risk from Oral Exposure

Oral Slope Factor(s)
Extrapolation Method
4.6 x10-2 per mg/kg-day PBPK model-based route-to-route extrapolation of the inhalation unit risk estimate for kidney cancer with a factor of 5 applied to include non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) and liver cancer risks, combined risk
  • EPA has concluded, by a weight of evidence evaluation, that TCE is carcinogenic by a mutagenic mode of action for induction of kidney tumors. As a result, increased early-life susceptibility is assumed for kidney cancer and the age-dependent adjustment factors (ADAFs) should be used for the kidney cancer component of the total cancer risk when estimating age-specific cancer risks. See IRIS Summary.
  • Dose-Response Data (Carcinogenicity, Oral Exposure)
    • Tumor Type: Renal cell carcinoma, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and liver tumors
    • Test Species: Human (epidemiological studies)
    • Route: Inhalation, (route-to-route extrapolation to Oral)
    • Reference: Charbotel et al., 2006 EPA, 2011 Raaschou-Nielsen et al., 2003

Quantitative Estimate of Carcinogenic Risk from Inhalation Exposure

Inhalation Unit Risk(s)
Extrapolation Method
4.1 x10-6 per µg/m3 Low-dose linear extrapolation from the point of departure (LEC01) with a factor of 4 applied to include non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) and liver cancer risks, combined risk
  • EPA has concluded, by a weight of evidence evaluation, that TCE is carcinogenic by a mutagenic mode of action for induction of kidney tumors. As a result, increased early-life susceptibility is assumed for kidney cancer and the age-dependent adjustment factors (ADAFs) should be used for the kidney cancer component of the total cancer risk when estimating age-specific cancer risks. See IRIS Summary.

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