Chloroform ?

Delancey

It's my understanding that Chloroform has not been used for many years as an Anaesthetic.
What are it's current uses ( if any ) ? Is it even still made ?

Keith in cork

Delancey wrote: »

c.
What are it's current uses ?

Uhhh, so many comments, too many Mods :pac:

deandean

It's a powerful organic solvent.

I have used it as a solvent for polycarbonate.

It fairly stinks, smells like bleach, and you'd be more likely to throw up at the smell of it before you get woozy!

Tree

Yeah, you find buckets of the stuff in chemistry labs, melting the plastic testtubes of ignorant undergrads.....

Delancey

Sounds like powerful stuff.... and to think humans used to breathe it in :eek:

kelle

We always kept a bottle of ether (OK, that's different) in x-ray - on a regular basis we put wrong number sticky labels on films which when removed would leave a horrible sticky mess. Ether would remove this in seconds.
Nowadays we have computerised and digital radiography where you can just print off another film!

Delancey

To my knowledge Ether took over from Chloroform as an anaesthetic due to breathing problems associated with the latter.
Ether sounds to be a good nail varnish remover as well

c montgomery

Delancey wrote: »

To my knowledge Ether took over from Chloroform as an anaesthetic due to breathing problems associated with the latter.
Ether sounds to be a good nail varnish remover as well

Love the smell of ether:)and toluene, pity there both really bad to inhale.

Most labs stay away from chloroform in favour of its little brother MDC.

jdee99

Some bee keepers use it to temporarily knock out the bees in a bee hive whilst putting in a new queen bee.

JD

Vorsprung

I think one of the big risks with it was liver necrosis, and safer agents be and available.

kelle

Delancey wrote: »

Ether sounds to be a good nail varnish remover as well

I forgot we used it for that too

God, it's such a long time ago!