Carbon tetrachloride

It is a non-flammable, dense, colourless liquid with a "sweet" chloroform-like odour that can be detected at low levels.

It was formerly widely used in fire extinguishers, as a precursor to refrigerants, an anthelmintic and a cleaning agent, but has since been phased out because of environmental and safety concerns.

Exposure to high concentrations of carbon tetrachloride can affect the central nervous system and degenerate the liver and kidneys.

[8] With a specific gravity greater than 1, carbon tetrachloride will be present as a dense nonaqueous phase liquid if sufficient quantities are spilt in the environment.

Hydrogen or an acid in the presence of an iron catalyst can reduce carbon tetrachloride to chloroform, dichloromethane, chloromethane and even methane.

Henri Victor Regnault developed another method to synthesise carbon tetrachloride from chloroform, chloroethane or methanol with excess chlorine in 1839.

[20] It was detected in Southern Californian ecosystems, salt lakes of the Kalmykian steppe and a common liverwort in the Czech Republic.

This was a common problem when carbon tetrachloride was used as a fire extinguisher[21] and there have been deaths due to its conversion to phosgene reported.

[23] The World Health Organization reports carbon tetrachloride can induce hepatocellular carcinomas (hepatomas) in mice and rats.

[24] The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified this compound in Group 2B, "possibly carcinogenic to humans".

[25] Carbon tetrachloride is one of the most potent hepatotoxins (toxic to the liver), so much so that it is widely used in scientific research to evaluate hepatoprotective agents.

[32][33] Consumption of alcohol increases the toxic effects of carbon tetrachloride and may cause more severe organ damage, such as acute renal failure, in heavy drinkers.

[34] The effects of carbon tetrachloride on human health and the environment have been assessed under REACH in 2012 in the context of the substance evaluation by France.

[35] In 2008, a study of common cleaning products found the presence of carbon tetrachloride in "very high concentrations" (up to 101 mg/m3) as a result of manufacturers' mixing of surfactants or soap with sodium hypochlorite (bleach).

Being a good solvent for many materials (such as grease and tar), carbon tetrachloride was widely used as a cleaning fluid for nearly 70 years.

[50] Carbon tetrachloride was briefly used as a volatile inhalation anaesthetic and analgesic for intense menstruation pains and headaches in the mid-19th century.

[58] During anaesthesia, carbon tetrachloride has caused such violent muscular contractions and negative effects on the heart in some patients that it had to be replaced with chloroform or ether.

The veterinary doctor Maurice Crowther Hall (1881-1938) discovered in 1921 that carbon tetrachloride was incredibly effective as an anthelminthic in eradicating hookworm via ingestion.

[60] Beginning in 1922, capsules of pure carbon tetrachloride were marketed by Merck under the name Necatorina (variants include Neo-necatorina and Necatorine).

[citation needed] Between 1902 and 1908, carbon tetrachloride-based fire extinguishers began to appear in the United States, years after Europe.

[66] The liquid was vaporized by the heat of combustion and extinguished flames, an early form of gaseous fire suppression.

[68] Carbon tetrachloride was suitable for liquid and electrical fires and the extinguishers were often carried on aircraft or motor vehicles.

When the solder melted by high heat, the spring would either break the globe or launch it out of the bracket, allowing the extinguishing agent to be automatically dispersed into the fire.

[43] Prior to the Montreal Protocol, large quantities of carbon tetrachloride were used to produce the chlorofluorocarbon refrigerants R-11 (trichlorofluoromethane) and R-12 (dichlorodifluoromethane).

[citation needed] Carbon tetrachloride was widely used as a fumigant to kill insect pests in stored grain.

Structural formula of tetrachloride
Structural formula of tetrachloride
Space-filling model carbon tetrachloride
Space-filling model carbon tetrachloride
Carbon tetrachloride
Carbon tetrachloride
NFPA 704 four-colored diamond Health 3: Short exposure could cause serious temporary or residual injury. E.g. chlorine gas Flammability 0: Will not burn. E.g. water Instability 0: Normally stable, even under fire exposure conditions, and is not reactive with water. E.g. liquid nitrogen Special hazards (white): no code
The mechanism of the Appel reaction
The mechanism of the Appel reaction
German advertisement stamp for Benzinoform (carbon tetrachloride) stain remover, 1912
No hay que desesperarse, la Necatorina salva (do not despair, Necatorina saves)
Advertisement for Merck's Necatorina, Colombia, 1942
A brass Pyrene carbon tetrachloride fire extinguisher
A Red Comet brand glass globe ("fire grenade") containing carbon tetrachloride