As the number of chlorine atoms increases, the electronegativity of that end of the molecule increases, and the molecule adopts a progressively more ionic character: it's density, boiling point and acidity all increase.
All of these acids are unusually strong for organic acids, and should generally be treated with similar care as for strong mineral acids like hydrochloric acid. Even neutral salts however, tend to be significantly toxic, because the ions interfere in biological processes (such as the Krebs cycle) that normally process plain acetate ions. Interestingly, the chloroethanoate ion is the most toxic, with a rat, oral LD50 of about 0.5 g/kg.
The half-life of trichloroaceticacid, given orally or formed as a metabolite of trichloroethylene or trichloroethanol, is longer in humans than in rodents.
In male mice, trichloroaceticacid modified neither the incidence of mutations in exon 2 of H-ras in carcinomas, nor the mutational spectrum observed in tumours that bore a mutation in exon 2.
Trichloroaceticacid induced abnormal sperm in mice in vivo in one study and chromosomal aberrations in mouse and chicken bone marrow in vivo.
Inhalation of trichloroaceticacid vapour may lead to a sore throat and cause fluid to fill the lungs (pulmonary oedema).
Trichloroaceticacid is used as a laboratory reagent but its main use is in the production of its sodiumsalt, which is used in many industries, for example, as a herbicide, etching agent and antiseptic.
In the environment, very small quantities of trichloroaceticacid are found in chlorinated drinking water as a disinfection by product as a consequence of the reaction of chlorine with natural organic matter and bromide ions in the raw water supply (from lake, reservoirs, rivers, etc.).
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