What Is Trichloroethylene (TCE)?
ATSDR describes trichloroethylene as a colorless, volatile, nonflammable liquid with a sweet odor, mainly used as a solvent to remove grease from metal parts and to make other chemicals, especially the refrigerant HFC-134a. The EPA says consumer uses have included cleaning and furniture care products, arts and crafts spray coatings, and automotive care products like brake cleaners.
ATSDR says there is strong evidence that TCE can cause kidney cancer in people and some evidence for liver cancer and malignant lymphoma, that HHS considers it a known human carcinogen, that IARC classifies it as carcinogenic to humans, and that the EPA has characterized it as carcinogenic to humans by all routes of exposure.
The EPA's December 2024 rule prohibits processing and distributing TCE and TCE-containing products after June 16, 2025, including all retail distribution, and prohibits industrial and commercial use after September 15, 2025, except for uses the rule specifies. Later actions moved some deadlines. An interim final rule effective September 15, 2025 pushed the prohibition for TCE as a processing aid in nuclear fuel manufacturing to September 15, 2028 and the ban on disposing of TCE to wastewater by certain processors and users to December 18, 2026, and as of May 18, 2026 the EPA postponed the conditions attached to the rule's exemptions until court review concludes.
Sources checked September 15, 2026. Every point below links the page it came from.
The sources behind this answer
- Government sourceATSDR describes trichloroethylene as a colorless, volatile, nonflammable liquid with a sweet odor, mainly used to remove grease from metal parts and to make other chemicals such as the refrigerant HFC-134a. ATSDR, CDC ↗
- Government sourceThe EPA says TCE consumer uses include cleaning and furniture care products, arts and crafts spray coatings, and automotive care products like brake cleaners. US EPA ↗
- Government sourceATSDR says there is strong evidence TCE can cause kidney cancer in people, that HHS considers it a known human carcinogen, IARC classifies it as carcinogenic to humans, and the EPA calls it carcinogenic by all routes. ATSDR, CDC ↗
- Regulatory filingThe EPA's December 2024 TCE rule prohibits processing and distributing TCE after June 16, 2025, including all retail distribution, and industrial and commercial use after September 15, 2025, except specified uses. US EPA, Federal Register, via GovInfo ↗
- Regulatory filingAn EPA interim final rule effective September 15, 2025 moved the TCE prohibition for nuclear fuel manufacturing to September 15, 2028 and the wastewater disposal prohibition to December 18, 2026. US EPA, Federal Register, via GovInfo ↗
- Regulatory filingAs of May 18, 2026, the EPA postponed the conditions imposed on the TCE rule's section 6(g) exemptions until the conclusion of judicial review. US EPA, Federal Register, via GovInfo ↗
Sources checked September 15, 2026. A brand statement is the company’s own claim, which we report but have not verified. Our grades are model-based estimates, not lab tests.