CARBON TETRACHLORIDE
Parameter Type: Drinking Water Testing for Volatiles
Parameter Name: CARBON TETRACHLORIDE
What it is and Where it Comes From:
Carbon Tetrachloride is a clear, colorless, volatile, and very stable chlorinated hydrocarbon. Carbon Tetrachloride is used as a solvent for oils and fats, as a refrigerant and as a dry-cleaning agent. Carbon tetrachloride is a manufactured chemical and does not occur naturally in the environment. It is produced by chlorination of a variety of low molecular weight hydrocarbons such as carbon disulfide, methane, ethane, propane, or ethylene dichloride and also by thermal chlorination of methyl chloride. Drinking water testing gives you several benefits like peace of mind, identifying contaminants in your water, and insight into health concerns. Safe Home offers Laboratory drinking water testing kits for carbon tetrachloride, allowing you to collect your water sample and ship it directly to our EPA-Certified Laboratory. This platform of drinking water testing for carbon tetrachloride will give you an accurate level based on the lowest level of a parameter our instruments can detect (Method Detection Level). Safe Home drinking water testing for volatiles can be used for city and well water supplies. Drinking water testing should be done any time you notice a significant change in your water quality.
Health Effects:
High exposure to carbon tetrachloride can cause liver, kidney, and central nervous system damage. The liver is especially sensitive to carbon tetrachloride because it enlarges, and cells are damaged or destroyed. Kidneys also are damaged, causing a buildup of wastes in the blood. If exposure is low and brief, the liver and kidneys can repair the damaged cells and function normally again. Effects of carbon tetrachloride are more severe in persons who drink large amounts of alcohol. If exposure is very high, the nervous system, including the brain, is affected. People may feel intoxicated and experience headaches, dizziness, sleepiness, and nausea and vomiting. These effects may subside if exposure is stopped, but in severe cases, coma and even death may occur.
Solutions to Contaminant Levels:
What are the next steps after drinking water testing? Carbon tetrachloride can be reduced by granular activated carbon filters. Carbon filtering is a method of filtering that uses a bed of activated carbon to remove impurities from a fluid using adsorption. Carbon filtering works by adsorption, in which pollutants in the fluid to be treated are trapped inside the pore structure of a carbon substrate. The substrate is made of many carbon granules, each of which is itself highly porous. As a result, the substrate has a large surface area within which contaminants can be trapped. Activated carbon is typically used in filters, as it has been treated to have a much higher surface area than non-treated carbon. Drinking water testing should be done once at least once a year to monitor contaminants in water supplies. Who do I need to contact to find out more information about water quality in my area? Every community water supplier must provide an annual report to its customers, known as a Consumer Confidence Report (CCR). The report provides information on your local drinking water quality, including the water’s source, contaminants found in the water, and how consumers can get involved in protecting drinking water. How often does the local public water system preform drinking water testing? Frequency of drinking water testing depends on the number of people served, the type of water source, and types of contaminants. Certain contaminants are tested more frequently than others, as established by the Safe Drinking Water Act. You can find out about levels of regulated contaminants in your treated water for the previous calendar year in your annual Consumer Confidence Report (CCR).
