Fatal Intoxication with 1,1-Dichloro-1-Fluoroethane

To the Editor: Astier and Paraire (Sept. 25 issue) 1 describe the fatal intoxication of a man in the process of cleaning a degreasing tank with 1,1-dichloro-1-fluoroethane. The available information suggests that the man died of respiratory arrest. The authors conclude that “laboratory studies are urgently needed to determine the toxicity profile of 1,1-dichloro-1-fluoroethane and propose guidelines for its safe handling.” Investigations of the physiologic effects of 1,1-dichloro-1-fluoroethane were performed in the 1940s and 1950s when this and related compounds were being tested for their usefulness as inhalational anesthetics. In 1946 Robbins 2 reported that 1,1-dichloro-1-fluoroethane was an anesthetic in mice and . . .