Breathing about 900 parts of chloroform per million parts air (900 parts per million) for a short time can cause dizziness, fatigue, and headache.
Approximately 10 percent of the population has an allergic reaction to chloroform that produces a fever of around 40°C (104°F) upon exposure.
Chronic chloroform exposure may cause damage to the liver (where chloroform is metabolized to phosgene) and to the kidneys, and some people develop sores when the skin is immersed in chloroform.
Chloroform containing deuterium (heavy hydrogen), CDCl3, is a common solvent used in NMR spectroscopy.
Chloroform was first prepared in July 1831, by the American physician Samuel Guthrie, when he mixed whiskey with chlorinated lime.
The DNA goes into the supernatant, while the protein and insoluble cellular materials precipitate between the layers of buffer and chloroform.
Trichloroethylene, a halogenated aliphatic hydrocarbon related to chloroform, was proposed as a safer alternative, but it, too, was later found to be carcinogenic.
Chloroform, also known as trichloromethane and methyl trichloride, is a chemical compound with the formula CHCl3.
The chloroform can be removed from the attendant acetate salts (or formate salts if ethanol is the starting material) by distillation.
Chloroform once appeared in toothpastes, cough syrups, ointments, and other pharmaceuticals, but it has been banned in consumer products in the United States since 1976.
Chloroform is a most effective solvent for alkaloids in their base form and thus is used to extract plant material for pharmaceutical processing.
Chloroform has a boiling point of 61.2°C, a melting point of ?63.5°C, and a density of 1.48 g/cmі.
Industrially, chloroform is produced by heating a mixture of chlorine and either chloromethane or methane.
In 1847, the Edinburgh obstetrician James Young Simpson experimented with chloroform narcosis on himself, then began using it as an anesthetic to assist women during childbirth.
Smaller amounts of chloroform are used as a solvent in the pharmaceutical industry and for producing dyes and pesticides.
Until recently, chloroform has been used mainly to produce the freon refrigerant R-22.
The use of chloroform during surgery expanded rapidly thereafter in Europe.
Deuterochloroform is prepared by the reaction of sodium deuteroxide with chloral hydrate.
Chloroform should, however, be used with caution, as it is harmful to both human health and the environment.
Animal studies have shown that miscarriages occur in rats and mice that have breathed air containing 30 to 300 ppm chloroform during pregnancy and also in rats that have ingested chloroform during pregnancy.