Chloroform

Overview

In December 2024, the draft IRIS Toxicological Review of Chloroform (Inhalation) (External Review Draft, 2024) and the draft charge to external peer reviewers were released for a 60-day public review and comment period. The Toxicological Review and charge were reviewed internally by EPA and by other federal agencies and White House Offices before public release. Consistent with the May 2009 IRIS assessment development process, all written comments on IRIS assessments submitted by other federal agencies and White House Offices are made publicly available. Accordingly, interagency comments and the interagency science consultation materials provided to other agencies, including interagency review drafts of the Toxicological Review and the charge to external peer reviewers, are posted on this site.

Background

Chloroform (trichloromethane) is a colorless, volatile liquid with a distinct odor. Chloroform is nonflammable. It is slightly soluble in water and is readily miscible with most organic solvents. Because chloroform is relatively volatile, it tends to escape from contaminated environmental media (e.g., water or soil) into air, and may also be released in vapor form from some types of industrial or chemical operations. Therefore, humans may be exposed to chloroform not only by ingestion of chloroform in drinking water, food, or soil, but also by inhalation of vapor (especially in indoor air) and dermal contact with contaminated media (especially water).

History/Chronology

Date	Description
Sep 1984	EPA released the Health Effects Assessment for Chloroform.
Apr 1988	EPA released the Updated Health Effects Assessment for Chloroform.
Oct 2001	EPA released the final tox report and summary document and posted these to the IRIS database.
Sep 2017	EPA released the IRIS Assessment Plan (IAP) for Chloroform for public comment and review. [Federal Register Notice Sep 18, 2017]
Sep 2017	EPA Science Advisory Board (SAB) Chemical Assessment Advisory Committee (CAAC) discussed the draft document at a public meeting on September 27-28, 2017.
Jan 2018	EPA released the Systematic Review Protocol for the IRIS Chloroform Assessment (Inhalation) (Preliminary Assessment Materials). [Federal Register Notice Jan 31, 2018]
Mar 2024	EPA sent an interagency science consultation chloroform draft for review and comment.
Dec 2024	EPA released the EPA-led Interagency Science Consultation draft assessment comments on the EPA website.

This download(s) is distributed solely for the purpose of pre-dissemination peer review under applicable information quality guidelines. It has not been formally disseminated by EPA. It does not represent and should not be construed to represent any Agency determination or policy.

• ATSDR Chloroform IASC Comments March 2024 (PDF)  (13  pp, 288.1 KB, about PDF)
• EOP-CEQ Chloroform IASC Comments March 2024 (PDF)  (1  pp, 138.7 KB, about PDF)
• EOP-OIRA Chloroform IASC Comments March 2024 (PDF)  (1  pp, 163.1 KB, about PDF)
• NIEHS Chloroform IASC Comments March 2024 (PDF)  (1  pp, 155.3 KB, about PDF)
• USDA Chloroform IASC Comments March 2024 (PDF)  (2  pp, 148.4 KB, about PDF)

If you have a disability and the format of any material on our web pages interferes with your ability to access the information, please reach out to us using the Contact Us about IRIS form for assistance. To enable us to respond in a manner most helpful to you, please indicate the nature of the accessibility problem, the web address of the requested material, your preferred format in which you want to receive the material (electronic format (ASCII, etc.), standard print, large print, etc.), and your contact information.

Document Related Link(s)

• HEALTH EFFECTS ASSESSMENT FOR CHLOROFORM
• UPDATED HEALTH EFFECTS ASSESSMENT FOR CHLOROFORM
• IRIS TOXICOLOGICAL REVIEW OF CHLOROFORM (FINAL REPORT, 2001)
• IRIS ASSESSMENT PLAN FOR CHLOROFORM (SCOPING AND PROBLEM FORMULATION MATERIALS)
• IRIS Toxicological Review of Chloroform (Final Report, 2001)