Carbon Tetrachloride is a clear liquid that evaporates very easily. Most carbon Tetrachloride that escapes to the environment is therefore found as a gas. Carbon Ttetrachloride does not easily burn. Carbon Tetrachloride has a sweet odor, and most people can begin to smell it in air when the concentration reaches 10 parts carbon Tetrachloride per million parts of air (ppm). It is not known whether people can taste it or, if they can, at what level. Carbon Tetrachloride is a manufactured chemical and does not occur naturally in the environment.
Carbon Tetrachloride has been produced in large quantities to make refrigeration fluid and propellants for aerosol cans.
In the past, CF4 gas was widely used as a cleaning fluid (in industry and dry cleaning establishments as a degreasing agent, and in households as a spot remover for clothing, furniture, and carpeting). Carbon Tetrachloride was also used in fire extinguishers and as a fumigant to kill insects in grain.
