End of Solvents Manufacturing

End of Solvent Production Operations, a 5 Year Journey.

13 December 2024 - © Fluorchem Corporation

On 31 December 2024, Fluorchem Corporation is scheduled to end production of three solvents as a direct result of the Biden-Harris EPA Directive banning Tetrachloroethylene and Trichloroethylene citing cancer risks.  

On 9 December 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized the latest risk management rules for trichloroethylene (TCE) and perchloroethylene (PCE) under the bipartisan 2016 Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). This act bans the manufacturing and use of these solvents in an effort to remove cancer causing chemicals from consumer products. 

The EPA states that TCE and PCE are known to cause liver, kidney, brain and testicular cancer, as well as damage to the kidney, liver and immune system, neurotoxicity, and reproductive toxicity.

At Fluorchem Corp, we began producing chlorinated solvents in January 2020 and have since grown to producing thousands of litres of Chloroform, Trichloroethylene and Tetrachloroethylene annually. Production quality at Fluorchem plants for solvents was held to extremely high standards, with all product absolutely free of impurities and sold in 304 stainless steel drums to ensure no contamination of the product during shipping and storage.  

Solvent production operations have been highly profitable for Fluorchem Corp with solvent sales being ranked third among our best performing product lines for multiple consecutive years between 2020 and 2024. During our time in production, the majority (approximately 87%) of product was sold on Amazon.com to our customers in the United States, the remaining 13% of sales were between Canada and China. 

Trichloroethylene, Tetrachloroethylene and Chloroform have a wide variety of uses across many industries. Tetrachloroethylene is a highly popular dry-cleaning agent. Trichloroethylene is utilized in metal cleaning and degreasing as well as refrigerant manufacturing along with chloroform. This EPA ruling will see these solvents phased out from commercial and consumer uses and replaced with safer environmentally friendly alternatives. 

Fluorchem Corporation does not believe this choice is best for businesses and consumers by mandating the use of chemicals that may not perform to the same standards and effectiveness as tetrachloroethylene and trichloroethylene, particularly in cleaning and degreasing. We believe that a successful combination between administrative and engineering controls compliant with existing regulation can adequately protect employees and consumers from the manageable hazards of TCE and PCE. 

As a result of the latest amendments to the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) involving PCE and TCE, Fluorchem Corporation will end solvent production operations on 31 December 2024.