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. Titanium tetrachloride is very irritating to the eyes, skin, mucous membranes, and the lungs. Breathing in large amounts can injure the lungs seriously enough to cause death. Contact with the liquid can burn the eyes and skin. However, the number of NPL sites evaluated for titanium tetrachloride is not known.
Titanium tetrachloride is a colorless to pale yellow liquid that has fumes with a strong odor.
If it comes in contact with water, it rapidly forms hydrochloric acid, as well as titanium compounds. Titanium tetrachloride is not found naturally in the environment and is made from minerals that contain titanium. It is used to make titanium metal and other titanium-containing compounds, such as titanium dioxide, which is used as a white pigment in paints and other products and to produce other chemicals. Titanium tetrachloride enters the environment primarily in the air from factories that make or use it in various chemical processes, or as a result of spills. If moisture is in the air, titanium tetrachloride reacts rapidly with it to form hydrochloric acid and other titanium compounds, such as titanium hydroxide and titanium oxychlorides.