Cancer in relation to occupational exposure to trichloroethylene.

Accepted 3 September 1995 Trichloroethylene (TCE), C2HC13, has been produced commercially for more than 80 years. For the past few decades it has been used primarily for metal degreasing, and as a solvent for oils and resins. Chronic high dose exposure to TCE increases the incidence of some forms of cancer in some species of rodents. Malignant tumours of the liver occur with increased frequency in Swiss and B6C3F, mice of both sexes, after either respiratory' or oral2 exposure to TCE, but not in some other strains of mice nor in rats or hamsters.3 6 Chronic exposure to TCE increases the incidence of adenocarcinomas of the lung in female ICR and B6C3F, mice,' 7 but other strains of mice and rats that have been tested did not develop lung tumours.' Small increases in the occurrence of kidney tubular cell carcinomas and testicular tumours also have occurred after TCE in some (but not all) species of male rats. 2 5 The occurrence of cancer has been monitored in several employed groups in whom specific exposure to TCE could be identified. Four of these cohort studies8-" have tabulated the rates of individual types of cancer. The purpose of this article is to review the results of the four cohort studies (augmented, for several of the