[5][7] In 2020, the United States Environmental Protection Agency stated that "tetrachloroethylene exposure may harm the nervous system, liver, kidneys, and reproductive system, and may be harmful to unborn children", and reported that numerous toxicology agencies regard it as a carcinogen.

[9] Tetrachloroethylene can be made by passing chloroform vapour through a red-hot tube, the side products include hexachlorobenzene and hexachloroethane, as reported in 1886.

It has also been used in consumer products including paint strippers, aerosol preparations, adhesives, and spot removers.

[15][16] In 1925, American veterinarian Maurice Crowther Hall (1881–1938), working on anthelmintics, demonstrated the effectiveness of tetrachloroethylene in the treatment of ancylostomiasis caused by hookworm infestation in humans and animals.

[citation needed] It was given orally as a liquid or in capsules along with magnesium sulfate to get rid of the Necator americanus parasite in humans.

[19] Oxidation of tetrachloroethylene by ultraviolet radiation in air produces trichloroacetyl chloride and phosgene: This reaction can be halted by using amines and phenols (usually N-methylpyrrole and N-methylmorpholine) as stabilisers.

Organic decomposition products identified were trichlorobutene, 1,3-dichloro-2-propanone, tetrachlorobutadiene, dichlorocyclopentane, dichloropentene, methyl trichloroacetate, tetrachloroacetone, tetrachloropropene, trichlorocyclopentane, trichloropentene, hexachloroethane, pentachloropropene, hexachloropropene, hexachlorobutadiene.

[5] Exposure to tetrachloroethylene, especially over a long term, may harm the nervous system, other organs, and increase the risk of getting cancer.

[8] Despite the advantages of tetrachloroethylene, cancer research and government environmental agencies have called for its replacement from widespread commercial use.

[7][8][26] On the other hand, dry cleaning industry emphasizes minimal risk because modern machinery use closed systems to avoid any vapour escape and to optimize recycling.

[28][27] Tetrachloroethylene can harm the nervous system, cause developmental deficits in children, impair vision, and increase the risk of psychiatric diagnoses.

[31]: 32 Evidence from cohort and case-controlled epidemiologic studies demonstrates a positive association between cumulative exposures to tetrachloroethylene and the prevalence of bladder cancer, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and multiple myeloma in adults.

[31]: 326 [32]: § 4.2.1.3 [33]: 237 Several modes of action are hypothesized for the carcinogenicity of tetrachloroethylene in humans, though existing data is insufficient for adequate characterization.

[32]: § 4.2.4, § 4.3.4  Markers of oxidative metabolism of tetrachloroethylene and increased prevalence of abnormal hepatic sonographs have been observed in dry-cleaners and laundry workers exposed to tetrachloroethylene,[34][35] which suggests a potential for hepatocellular damage through the formation of reactive intermediates from glutathione conjugates during metabolization.