The Treatment of Hookworm Disease with Tetrachlorethylene 1

Physicochemical properties

“…The oral administration of tetrachloroethylene as an anthelminthic in humans was common at one time; however, newer therapeutic agents have since replaced tetrachloroethylene. Narcotic effects, inebriation, perceptual distortion, and exhilaration, but not death, were observed in patients receiving doses ranging from 2.8 to 4 mL (about 4.2-6 g) of tetrachloroethylene orally as an anthelminthic (Haerer and Udelman 1964;Kendrick 1929;Sandground 1941;Wright et al 1937).…”

“…There are reports on acute tetrachloroethylene exposure of humans and animals following inhalation and oral exposure. The primary targets following acute inhalation and oral exposure are the central nervous system (Altmann et al 1990(Altmann et al , 1992Carpenter 1937;Haerer and Udelman 1964;Hake and Stewart 1977;Kendrick 1929;Moser et al 1995;NTP 1986;Ogata et al 1971;Rowe et al 1952;Savolainen et al 1977;Stewart 1969;Stewart et al 1961aStewart et al , 1961bStewart et al , 1970Stewart et al , 1981, kidneys (Goldsworthy and Popp 1987), and liver (Berman et al 1995;Goldsworthy and Popp 1987;Hake and Stewart 1977;Hanioka et al 1995;Kylin et al 1963;Levine et al 1981;NTP 1986;Odum et al 1988;Saland 1967;Schumann et al 1980;Stewart 1969).…”

“…The majority of the human studies are cases involving accidental exposure (Garnier et al 1996;Koppel et al 1985;Saland 1967), occupational exposure (Levine et al 1981;Lukaszewski 1979;Morgan 1969;Patel et al 1973), exposure from the use of tetrachloroethylene as an anthelminthic (Kendrick 1929;Wright et al 1937), and exposure from contaminated drinking water (Aschengrau et al 2012;Getz et al 2012;Janulewicz et al 2008Janulewicz et al , 2012. However, studies are available that reported the thresholds for central nervous system effects in humans resulting from acute-duration inhalation exposures to 3.…”

“…Furthermore, since the chronic-duration LOAEL of 2 ppm used to obtain the chronic-duration inhalation MRL is the same value, the chronic value was adopted for the acute-duration inhalation MRL. Human oral exposure data, limited to an accidental exposure (Koppel et al 1985) and descriptions of the use of tetrachloroethylene as an anthelminthic (Chaudhuri and Mukerji 1947;Kendrick 1929;Koppel et al 1985;Sandground 1941;Wright et al 1937), do not clearly define threshold dosages. Direct dermal contact with tetrachloroethylene results in chemical burns (Hake and Stewart 1977;Ling and Lindsay 1971;Morgan 1969).…”

“…It has been clearly established that the central nervous system is a target of tetrachloroethylene toxicity in humans and animals following either inhalation or oral exposure. Human data are available for acute inhalation exposure (Altmann et al 1990(Altmann et al , 1992Carpenter 1937;Hake and Stewart 1977;Morgan 1969;Rowe et al 1952;Saland 1967;Stewart et al 1961bStewart et al , 1970Stewart et al , 1981 and acute oral exposure (Haerer and Udelman 1964;Kendrick 1929;Koppel et al 1985;Sandground 1941;Wright et al 1937) to tetrachloroethylene. The human studies indicate that the LOAEL for neurological effects (increased latency of pattern reversal visual-evoked potentials and deficits for vigilance and eye-hand coordination) following inhalation exposure is about 50 ppm for 4-hour exposures (Altmann et al 1990(Altmann et al , 1992).…”