Serious illness has followed ingestion of 7.5 g (0.26 oz). The mean lethal oral dose for an adult is estimated at 45 g (1.6 oz).The anesthetic use of chloroform has been discontinued because it caused deaths due to respiratory failure and cardiac arrhythmias. Following chloroform-induced anesthesia, some patients suffered nausea, vomiting, hyperthermia, jaundice, and coma due to hepatic dysfunction. At autopsy, liver necrosis and degeneration have been observed.Chloroform has induced liver tumors in mice and kidney tumors in mice and rats. The hepatotoxicity and nephrotoxicity of chloroform is thought to be due largely to phosgene. Conversion to phosgene
Chloroform converts slowly in air to the extremely poisonous phosgene (COCl2), releasing HCl in the process. 2 CHCl3 + O2 → 2 COCl2 + 2 HClTo prevent accidents, commercial chloroform is stabilized with ethanol or amylene, but samples that have been recovered or dried no longer contain any stabilizer. Amylene has been found ineffective, and the phosgene can affect analytes in samples, lipids, and nucleic acids dissolved in or extracted with chloroform. Phosgene and HCl can be removed from chloroform by washing with saturated aqueous carbonate solutions, such as sodium bicarbonate. This procedure is simple and results in harmless products. Phosgene reacts with water to form carbon dioxide and HCl, and the carbonate salt neutralizes the resulting acid.Suspected samples can be tested for phosgene using filter paper (treated with 5% diphenylamine, 5% dimethylaminobenzaldehyde in ethanol, and then dried), which turns yellow in phosgene vapor.
Chloroform, or trichloromethane, is an organic compound with formula CHCl3 and is a common organic solvent. It is a colorless, strong-smelling, dense liquid produced on a large scale as a precursor to PTFE. It is also a precursor to various refrigerants. It is one of the four chloromethanes and a trihalomethane. It is a powerful anesthetic, euphoriant, anxiolytic, and sedative when inhaled or ingested. Structure
The molecule adopts a tetrahedral molecular geometry with C3v symmetry. Natural occurrence
The total global flux of chloroform through the environment is approximately 660000 tonnes per year, and about 90% of emissions are natural in origin. Many kinds of seaweed produce chloroform, and fungi are believed to produce chloroform in soil. Abiotic processes are also believed to contribute to natural chloroform productions in soils although the mechanism is still unclear.Chloroform volatilizes readily from soil and surface water and undergoes degradation in air to produce phosgene, dichloromethane, formyl chloride, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and hydrogen chloride. Its half-life in air ranges from 55 to 620 days. Biodegradation in water and soil is slow. Chloroform does not significantly bioaccumulate in aquatic organisms. History
Chloroform was synthesized independently by several investigators circa 1831:

Moldenhawer, a German pharmacist from Frankfurt an der Oder, appears to have produced chloroform in 1830 by mixing chlorinated lime with ethanol; he mistook it for Chloräther (chloric ether, 1,2-dichloroethane), however.