Trichloroethylene or TCE Use

[connie3140]

Hello,  I am trying to help my brother-in-law, Jerry, file a VA disability claim for his Parkinson's.  We believe that his exposure to certain chemicals, notably trichloroethylene (TCE)  while serving as a crew chief on a B-47, is a factor in his developing Parkinson's. 

Can anyone point me towards any documentation that it was used?

Does anyone have any anecdotal information on the use of TCE?

Would a B-47 crew chief have used it? 

Any help you can give would be greatly appreciated. 

If you have any information on TCE, please email me directly at [email protected]

Thank you

[USMC kalibrater]

It's is very likely that your brother could have used trike as a solvent on a B-47, it was one of the most widely used chemicals in its hayday. 
We used trike up into the early 90s in PMEL to clean items requiring a very low contamination particulate count (i.e sterile instruments and oxygen use instruments).
Whether or not it led to your brothers parkinon's disease is surely beyond my scope of knowledge the link below has alot of information.
http://toxipedia.org/display/toxipedia/Trichloroethylene

[connie3140]

Thanks for your reply.  I'm hoping I can get more info, even personal recollections about TCE use, especially among Air Force crew chiefs or mechanics.  The reason I suspect it might be a factor in Parkinson's, is this 2012 peer-reviewed article from the Annals of Neurology, "Solvent Exposures and Parkinson's Disease Risk in Twins."  Here's a link to that article:  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3366287/

[jimmyc]

we used tric by the gallon, i would be more worried about MEK or engine oil which was known to have neurological effects.  engine oils contains tricresil phosphate "TCP is the cause of numerous poisonings and is a neurotoxin, in part via organophosphate-induced delayed neuropathy.[4] It is of "toxicological importance" and has been responsible for many deaths. "