Simagchem Corp.

Uses Hexachloroethane is used as a solvent, infireworks and smoke devices; in explosives,in celluloid, as an insecticide, and as a rubbervulcanizing accelerator. Earlier it was used asan anthelmintic for livestock. Hexachloroethane is a highly efficient chlorinating agent in the preparation of chlorosilanes from hydrosilanes.

Uses In metallurgy for refining aluminum alloys, removing impurities from molten metals, recovering metal from ores or smelting products. Degassing agent for magnesium; to inhibit explosiveness of methane and combustion of ammonium perchlorate. Smoke generator in grenades; in pyrotechnics. Ignition suppressant, in fire extinguishing fluids, polymer additive, flame-proofing agent, vulcanizing agent. In production of synthetic diamonds.

Uses The applications of hexachloroethane have been extensive; however, industrial uses are diminishing. Hexachloroethane is used primarily in military smoke munitions (e.g., smoke pots, grenades, cartridges, and projectiles used to generate “smoke” or “fog”) and in pyrotechnics.

The estimated average annual use of hexachloroethane from 1966 to 1977 at a major facility manufacturing smoke and pyrotechnic devices was 192,802 lb. In the 1970s, about half of the hexachloroethane distributed was used to manufacture military smoke-producing and pyrotechnic devices, 30% to 40% to manufacture degassing pellets to remove air bubbles from molten ore at aluminum foundries, and 10% to 20% as an antihelminthic to control liver flukes in sheep and cattle. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration withdrew approval for the use of hexachloroethane as an antihelminthic in 1971, and it probably is no longer used for this purpose (ATSDR 1997). Its use for degassing aluminum also has been almost completely phased out in the United States (EPA 1999). Other uses in metallurgy include refining alloys, removing impurities from molten metals, recovering metals from ores or smelting products, and as a degassing agent for magnesium; however, the European Union began phasing out the use of hexachloroethane in nonferrous metals in 1998 (EC 1998).

A number of other past uses of hexachloroethane have been identified, but many of these likely have been discontinued or involve the use of only limited quantities. Hexachloroethane is used as a laboratory chemical and as an ingredient in various fungicidal and insecticidal formulations, extreme-pressure lubricants, and plastics (ATSDR 1997, IARC 1999, HSDB 2009). Other past uses include as a moth repellent and in the chemical industry as a polymer additive, a plasticizer for cellulose esters, an accelerator, a vulcanizing agent, a process solvent in rubber manufacturing, a retardant in fermentation processes, and a component of submarine paints, and in the production of some types of synthetic diamonds. It has also been used as a component of fire-extinguishing fluids, an additive in combustible liquids (ignition suppressant), and an inhibitor of the explosiveness of methane and the combustion of ammonium perchlorate (IARC 1979, 1999, HSDB 2009).