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  • Simpson, Sir James Young, 1st Baronet
Related terms:
lindane
carbon tetrachloride
chlordane
chlordecone
methyl chloride
methylene chloride
mirex
mitotane
polychlorinated biphenyl
Indicator, Reagent, or Diagnostic Aid
chloroform Audio
chlo·ro·form [ klawr-uh-fawrm, klohr- ]
More Information:
ChemID; DrugBank; DailyMed; DrugInfo; PDR
Definitions related to chloroform:
  • A colorless, volatile, liquid derivative of trichloromethane with an ether-like odor. Formerly used as an inhaled anesthetic during surgery, the primary use of chloroform today is in industry, where it is used as a solvent and in the production of the refrigerant freon. Acute chloroform toxicity results in impaired liver function, cardiac arrhythmia, nausea and central nervous system dysfunction. As a byproduct of water chlorination, chloroform may be present in small amounts in chlorinated water. (NCI04)
    NCI Thesaurus
    U.S. National Cancer Institute, 2021
  • A commonly used laboratory solvent. It was previously used as an anesthetic, but was banned from use in the U.S. due to its suspected carcinogenicity.
    NLM Medical Subject Headings
    U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2021
  • Commonly used laboratory solvent formerly used as an anesthetic, possible carcinogen.
    CRISP Thesaurus
    National Institutes of Health, 2006
  • Chloroform (CHCl3), nonflammable, clear, colourless liquid that is denser than water and has a pleasant etherlike odour. It was first prepared in 1831. The Scottish physician Sir James Simpson of the University of Edinburgh was the first to use it as an anesthetic in 1847. It later captured public...
    Encyclopedia Britannica
    Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., 2020
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