Quote Originally Posted by Supercharged111 View Post
I googled it. Tetrachloroethylene is the one to watch out for...
Yes, it used to be quite common but many other chlorinated hydrocarbons (aka chlorocarbon) have the same potential.
Yes, cumulative exposure at certain levels is very serious. Look at the label of products you use and make sure you check the MSDS and specifically the PEL (exposure info) for anything you are not sure about. Exposure of the compound to temps above 300C is very dangerous.
We did some synthesizing of chlorocarbons way back in college (I was an EE and since Faraday was the first to synthesize Tetrachloroethylene our professor thought it was a "cool" bridge between chem and electronics...just don't F' it up!)
Chlorocarbons are generally stable and are widely used as a solvent for use with a variety of organic materials which is why you will find them in cleaning products for clothing, furniture and paint stripping etc.
Tetrachloroethylene production has dropped but other low (molecular) weight chlorocarbons have seen consistent or even increased production (e.g. chloroform).
Focus on low VOC paints (Europe adopted many years ago but the US was quite slow) is starting to reduce the need in painting workflow but the stability and wide use means they are around.
...be safe