It is used as a fire extinguisher, a solvent, a starting material to make many organic compounds, as an insecticide, and for cleaning clothes. Carbon tetrachloride may enter the environment from industrial effluents, municipal treatment plant discharges, or spills. Acute effects are seen two to four days after animals or plants come in contact with a toxic chemical substance. Carbon tetrachloride has high acute toxicity to aquatic life. No data are available on the short-term effects of carbon tetrachloride on plants, birds, or land animals.
Carbon tetrachloride has high chronic toxicity to aquatic life.
No data are available on the long-term effects of carbon tetrachloride on plants, birds, or land animals. Concentrations of between 1 to 1,000 milligrams will mix with a liter of water. Some substances increase in concentration, or bioaccumulate, in living oranisms as they breathe contaminated air, drink contaminated water, or eat contaminated food. These chemicals can become concentrated in the tissues and internal organs of animals and humans. The concentration of carbon tetrachloride found in fish tissues is expected to be somewhat higher than the average concentration of carbon tetrachloride in the water from which the fish was taken.