PUBLIC HEALTH STATEMENT 

 1,1-DICHLOROETHENE CAS#: 75-35-4 

Division of Toxicology May 1994 

__________________________________________________________________________________________

DEPARTMENT of HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, Public Health Service

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry 

www.atsdr.cdc.gov/ Telephone: 1-888-422-8737 Fax: 770-488-4178 E-Mail: atsdric@cdc.gov 

This Public Health Statement is the summary 

chapter from the Toxicological Profile for 1,1-

Dichloroethene. It is one in a series of Public Health 

Statements about hazardous substances and their 

health effects. A shorter version, the ToxFAQsTM is 

also available. This information is important 

because this substance may harm you. The effects 

of exposure to any hazardous substance depend on 

the dose, the duration, how you are exposed, 

personal traits and habits, and whether other 

chemicals are present. For more information, call 

the ATSDR Information Center at 1-888-422-8737. 

_____________________________________ 

This Statement was prepared to give you 

information about 1,1-dichloroethene and to 

emphasize the human health effects that may result 

from exposure to it. The Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA) has identified 1,350 hazardous waste 

sites as the most serious in the nation. These sites 

comprise the "National Priorities List" (NPL): 

Those sites which are targeted for long-term federal 

cleanup activities. 1,1-Dichloroethene has been 

found in at least 492 of the sites on the NPL. 

However, the number of NPL sites evaluated for 

1,1-dichloroethene is not known. As EPA evaluates 

more sites, the number of sites at which 1,1-

dichloroethene is found may increase. This 

information is important because exposure to 1,1-

dichloroethene may cause harmful health effects 

and because these sites are potential or actual 

sources of human exposure to 1,1-dichloroethene. 

When a substance is released from a large area, 

such as an industrial plant, or from a container, such 

as a drum or bottle, it enters the environment. This 

release does not always lead to exposure. You can 

be exposed to a substance only when you come in 

contact with it. You may be exposed by breathing, 

eating, or drinking substances containing the 

substance or by skin contact with it. 

If you are exposed to a substance such as 1,1-

dichloroethene, many factors will determine 

whether harmful health effects will occur and what 

the type and severity of those health effects will be. 

These factors include the dose (how much), the 

duration (how long), the route or pathway by which 

you are exposed (breathing, eating, drinking, or skin 

contact), the other chemicals to which you are 

exposed, and your individual characteristics such as 

age, gender, nutritional status, family traits, lifestyle, and state of health. 

 

1.1 WHAT IS 1,1-DICHOROETHENE? 

1,1-Dichloroethene, also known as vinylidene 

chloride, is a chemical used to make certain plastics 

(such as packaging materials, flexible films like 

SARAN wrap) and flame-retardant coatings for 

fiber and carpet backing. It is a colorless liquid that 

evaporates quickly at room temperature. It has a 

mild sweet smell and burns quickly. 

1,1-Dichloroethene is a man-made chemical and is 

not found naturally in the environment. Although 

1,1-dichloroethene is manufactured in large 

quantities, most of it is used to make other 

substances or products such as polyvinylidene 

chloride 

1.2 WHAT HAPPENS TO 1,1-

DICHOROETHENE WHEN IT ENTERS 

THE ENVIRONMENT? 

1,1-Dichloroethene can enter the environment when 

it is released to the air during its production or 

released to surface water or soil as a result of waste 
 PUBLIC HEALTH STATEMENT 

 1,1-DICHLOROETHENE CAS#: 75-35-4 

Division of Toxicology May 1994 

__________________________________________________________________________________________

DEPARTMENT of HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, Public Health Service

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry 

www.atsdr.cdc.gov/ Telephone: 1-888-422-8737 Fax: 770-488-4178 E-Mail: atsdric@cdc.gov 

disposal. Most 1,1-dichloroethene evaporates 

quickly and mainly enters the environment through 

the air, although some enters into rivers or lakes. 

1,1-Dichloroethene can enter soil, water, and air in 

large amounts during an accidental spill. 1,1-

Dichloroethene can also enter the environment as a 

breakdown product of other chemicals in the 

environment. 

1,1-Dichloroethene behaves differently in air, water, 

and soil. 1,1-Dichloroethene evaporates to the air 

very quickly from soil and water. In the air, 1,1-

dichloroethene is broken down by reactive 

compounds formed by sunlight. 1,1-Dichloroethene 

remains in the air for about 4 days. 

From water, 1,1-dichloroethene evaporates into the 

air; it breaks down very slowly in water. We do not 

know exactly how long 1,1-dichloroethene stays in 

water. It is not readily transferred to fish or birds, 

and only very small amounts enter the food chain. 

In soil, 1,1-dichloroethene either evaporates to the 

air or percolates down through soil with rainwater 

and enters underground water. Small living 

organisms in soil and groundwater may transform it 

into other less harmful substances, although this 

happens slowly. 

1.3 HOW MIGHT I BE EXPOSED TO 1,1-

DICHOROETHENE? 

You may be exposed to 1,1-dichloroethene by 

breathing it when it is in the air or eating food or 

water that contains it. You may also be exposed to 

1,1-dichloroethene if it touches your skin. 1,1-

Dichloroethene is found at very low levels in indoor 

and outdoor air (estimated as less than 1 part per 

trillion parts of air [ppt]). Therefore, the potential 

for exposure in the environment is extremely low. 

The amounts are somewhat higher near some 

factories that make or use 1,1-dichloroethene (those 

that make food-packaging films, adhesives, flameretardant coatings for fiber and carpet backing, 

piping, and coating for steel pipes), hazardous waste 

sites, and areas near accidental spills. The exact 

amount of 1,1-dichloroethene in the air near these 

factories is not known. In air around waste sites 

where it has been identified, the amount of 1,1-

dichloroethene ranges from 0.39 to 97 parts 1,1-

dichloroethene per billion parts of air (ppb, 1 ppb is 

1,000 times more than 1 ppt). The levels of 1,1-

dichloroethene in air around waste sites are usually 

much lower than those that have caused health 

effects in animals. We estimate that 1,1-

dichloroethene contaminates the air around 97 

chemical factories in the United States. Factories 

that make 1,1-dichloroethene are mainly located in 

Texas and Louisiana. Measured air levels inside 

manufacturing plants range from less than 5 to 

1,900 parts 1,1-dichloroethene per million parts of 

air (ppm, 1 ppm is 1,000 times more than 1 ppb). 

A small percentage (3%) of the drinking water 

sources in the United States contain low amounts of 

1,1-dichloroethene (0.2-0.5 ppb with an estimated 

average of 0.3 ppb). The amounts are very low 

compared with levels that are expected to affect 

human health. The concentration of 1,1-

dichloroethene in groundwater samples from 

hazardous waste sites ranged from 0.001 to 0.09 

ppm. 

Since 1,1-dichloroethene is used to make some 

consumer products, exposure might occur while 

these products are made or used. For example, the 

estimated average amount of 1,1-dichloroethene in 

plastic food-packaging films ranged from <0.02 to 
 PUBLIC HEALTH STATEMENT 

 1,1-DICHLOROETHENE CAS#: 75-35-4 

Division of Toxicology May 1994 

__________________________________________________________________________________________

DEPARTMENT of HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, Public Health Service

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry 

www.atsdr.cdc.gov/ Telephone: 1-888-422-8737 Fax: 770-488-4178 E-Mail: atsdric@cdc.gov 

1.26 ppm. The measured average amount in food 

wrapped in these films was less than 0.01 ppm. Not 

every tested food sample contained 1,1-

dichloroethene, so these numbers only reflect the 

levels found in food samples tested that did contain 

1,1-dichloroethene. The Food and Drug 

Administration (FDA) regulates the use of plastic 

packaging films. The FDA has determined that the 

films can contain no more than 10 ppm 1,1-

dichloroethene and that the low levels of 1,1-

dichloroethene found in food wrapped in these films 

present no health risk to the consumer. Besides 

environmental exposures, occupational exposure 

can occur for workers who are involved in the 

manufacture and use of 1,1-dichloroethene. These 

workers include primarily carpenters, warehouse 

workers, and machine operators. 

 

1.4 HOW CAN 1,1-DICHOROETHENE 

ENTER AND LEAVE MY BODY? 

1,1-Dichloroethene can easily enter the body 

through the lungs as an air pollutant or through the 

stomach and intestines if you eat or drink 

contaminated food or water. Based on the physical 

and chemical properties of 1,1-dichloroethene, we 

think that 1,1-dichloroethene can also enter the 

body through the human skin. Harmful effects have 

occurred in animals after 1,1-dichloroethene was 

applied to their skin. 

Animal studies indicate that following exposure, 

1,1-dichloroethene partly leaves the body through 

the lungs. The remaining 1,1-dichloroethene breaks 

down into other substances that leave the body in 

the urine within 1-2 days. Some of the breakdown 

products of 1,1-dichloroethene such as 

dithioglycolic acid, are more harmful than 1,1-

dichloroethene. The way 1,1-dichloroethene and its 

breakdown products leave the body depends on the 

amount of 1,1-dichloroethene that enters the body. 

Low or moderate levels breathed in (25-200 ppm) 

or taken by mouth (up to 50 milligrams per 

kilogram of body weight) leave the body mainly as 

breakdown products in the urine. As the amount of 

1,1-dichloroethene that enters the body increases, 

more and more 1,1-dichloroethene leaves the body 

in the exhaled breath. Whether 1,1-dichloroethene is 

inhaled or taken by mouth it leaves the body in 

about the same way. 1,1-Dichloroethene is not 

stored very much in the body when low-tomoderate amounts enter the body. 

1.5 HOW CAN 1,1-DICHOROETHENE 

AFFECT MY HEALTH? 

How a chemical affects your health depends on how 

much you are exposed to and for how long. As the 

level and length of your exposure increase, the 

effects are likely to become more severe. 

Information on the health effects in humans after 

breathing 1,1-dichloroethene is insufficient. People 

who breathed high amounts of 1,1-dichloroethene 

in a closed space lost their breath and fainted. Some 

people who breathed 1,1-dichloroethene at work for 

several years had abnormal liver function. However, 

exposure to other chemicals may have also 

contributed to this effect. Available information 

indicates that prolonged inhalation of 1,1-

dichloroethene can induce adverse neurological 

effects and is possibly associated with liver and 

kidney damage in humans. Studies in animals 

indicate that 1,1-dichloroethene can affect the 

normal functions of the liver, kidneys, and lungs. 

However, the amount of 1,1-dichloroethene in the 

air to which the animals were exposed was much 

higher than the amounts in the air that the general 

public usually breathes. Some animals that breathed 
 PUBLIC HEALTH STATEMENT 

 1,1-DICHLOROETHENE CAS#: 75-35-4 

Division of Toxicology May 1994 

__________________________________________________________________________________________

DEPARTMENT of HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, Public Health Service

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry 

www.atsdr.cdc.gov/ Telephone: 1-888-422-8737 Fax: 770-488-4178 E-Mail: atsdric@cdc.gov 

large amounts of 1,1-dichloroethene died within a 

few days. The liver and kidneys of animals were 

affected after breathing air that contained 1,1-

dichloroethene for days, months, or years. After 

pregnant rats breathed 1,1-dichloroethene in air, 

some of the newborn rats had birth defects. 

We have no information on health effects in humans 

who ate food or drank water that contained 1,1-

dichloroethene. Animals fed food that contained 

1,1-dichloroethene or that had 1,1-dichloroethene 

placed experimentally in their stomachs developed 

liver and kidney disease, and some even died. These 

amounts, however, were very much higher than 

those which occur in drinking water supplies. Birth 

defects did not occur in the newborn of female rats 

that drank 1,1-dichloroethene. 

Spilling 1,1-dichloroethene on your skin or in your 

eyes can cause irritation. We do not know what 

other health effects might occur if 1,1-

dichloroethene comes into contact with your skin 

for long periods. However, no serious effects or 

deaths occurred in mice after small amounts of 1,1-

dichloroethene were put on their skin over a period 

of months. We do not know whether spilling 1,1-

dichloroethene on your skin can cause birth defects 

or affect fertility. 

We do not know whether coming into contact with 

1,1-dichloroethene increases the risk of cancer in 

humans. Evidence from epidemiology studies of 

workers exposed to 1,1-dichloroethene is 

inconclusive. Several studies examined the 

possibility that 1,1-dichloroethene may increase the 

risk of cancer in animals. Only one of these studies 

indicated that mice breathing 1,1-dichloroethene for 

1 year developed kidney cancer, but the particular 

type of mouse used may be especially sensitive to 

1,1-dichloroethene. 

The U.S. Department of Health and Human 

Services has not classified 1,1-dichloroethene with 

respect to carcinogenicity. The International 

Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has 

determined that 1,1-dichloroethene is not 

classifiable as to its carcinogenicity in humans. The 

EPA has determined that 1,1-dichloroethene is a 

possible human carcinogen. NTP does not include it 

in its list of substances expected to be human 

carcinogens. 

1.6 IS THERE A MEDICAL TEST TO 

DETERMINE WHETHER I HAVE BEEN 

EXPOSED TO 1,1-DICHOROETHENE? 

 

1,1-Dichloroethene can be measured in the breath, 

blood, urine, and body tissues of individuals who 

come in contact with the chemical. However, only 

relatively high levels of 1,1-dichloroethene in body 

tissues and fluids can be measured. Because breath 

samples are easily collected, tests of exhaled air are 

now the most common way to tell whether a person 

has been exposed to high levels of 1,1-

dichloroethene. One of the breakdown products of 

1,1-dichloroethene, dithioglycolic acid, can also be 

measured in urine. None of these tests are regularly 

available at a doctor's office because they require 

special equipment, but your doctor can tell you 

where you can get the tests done. Although these 

tests can prove that a person has been exposed to 

1,1-dichloroethene, they cannot tell if any health 

effects will occur. Since most of the 1,1-

dichloroethene leaves the body within a few days, 

these methods are best for determining whether 

exposures have occurred within the last several 

days. Detection of 1,1-dichloroethene or its 
 PUBLIC HEALTH STATEMENT 

 1,1-DICHLOROETHENE CAS#: 75-35-4 

Division of Toxicology May 1994 

__________________________________________________________________________________________

DEPARTMENT of HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, Public Health Service

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry 

www.atsdr.cdc.gov/ Telephone: 1-888-422-8737 Fax: 770-488-4178 E-Mail: atsdric@cdc.gov 

breakdown products in the body may not 

necessarily mean that exposure to 1,1-

dichloroethene alone has occurred. People exposed 

to 1,1-dichloroethene at hazardous waste sites were 

probably also exposed to other organic compounds, 

that produce breakdown products similar to those of 

1,1-dichloroethene. Other methods for measuring 

the effects associated with exposure to 1,1-

dichloroethene (such as reduced enzyme levels) are 

not specific enough to detect effects caused by 

exposure to 1,1-dichloroethene alone. 

1.7 WHAT RECOMMENDATIONS HAS THE 

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT MADE TO 

PROTECT HUMAN HEALTH? 

 

The federal government has developed regulatory 

guidelines and standards to protect people from the 

possible health effects of 1,1-dichloroethene. The 

Occupational Safety and Health Administration 

(OSHA) requires workplace exposure limits of 1 

ppm or less for an 8-hour workday to protect 

workers from noncancer harmful health effects. To 

guarantee the maximum protection for human 

health from the possible cancer effects of drinking 

water or eating seafood (fish or shellfish) that 

contain 1,1-dichloroethene over a lifetime, the EPA 

recommends that the level of 1,1-dichloroethene in 

lakes and streams should not exceed 0.003 ppm. 

EPA has determined that drinking water containing 

3.5 ppm of 1,1-dichloroethene for adults and 1 ppm 

for children is not expected to cause noncancerous 

harmful health effects. The National Institute for 

Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has 

recommended that 1,1-dichloroethene is a potential 

occupational cancer causing chemical. 

The EPA limits the amount of 1,1-dichloroethene 

permitted in publicly owned waste water treatment 

plants. To minimize human exposure to 1,1-

dichloroethene, EPA requires that industry tell the 

National Response Center when 100 pounds or 

more of 1,1-dichloroethene have been released in 

the environment. 

1.8 WHERE CAN I GET MORE 

INFORMATION? 

 

If you have any more questions or concerns, 

please contact your community or state health or 

environmental quality department or: 

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry 

Division of Toxicology 

1600 Clifton Road NE, Mailstop F-32 

Atlanta, GA 30333 

Information line and technical assistance: 

Phone: 888-422-8737 

FAX: (770)-488-4178 

ATSDR can also tell you the location of 

occupational and environmental health clinics. 

These clinics specialize in recognizing, evaluating, 

and treating illnesses resulting from exposure to 

hazardous substances. 

To order toxicological profiles, contact: 

National Technical Information Service 

5285 Port Royal Road 

Springfield, VA 22161 

Phone: 800-553-6847 or 703-605-6000 

References 

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry 

(ATSDR). 1994. Toxicological profile for 1,1-

dichoroethene. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of 

Health and Human Services, Public Health Service.