Clinical Drug Experience Knowledgebase

Chloroform is a colorless, sweet-smelling, dense liquid and widely used industrial and laboratory solvent. The total global flux of chloroform through the environment is approximately 660 000 tonnes per year, and about 90% of emissions are natural in origin. Many kinds of seaweed produce chloroform, and fungi are believed to produce chloroform in soil. Chloroform is used as an industrial solvent and as an intermediate in the manufacture of polymeric materials. The major use of chloroformtoday is in the production of the refrigerant R-22, commonly used in the air conditioning business. Inhaled chloroform anesthesia was introduced in 1847 and Chloroform subsequently became the most widely used volatile anaesthetic, and was used in horses before the end of the 19th century. Pure chloroform is known to be decomposed by the air with the formation of hydrochloric acid, phosgene and carbon dioxide. Phosgene is also generated metabolically from chloroform, and liver and kidney damage can ensue from its production.   ^NCATS