The Chlorinated Products Line: Methyl Chloride, Dichloromethane, Chloroform and Perchloroethylene

Mon, 12 Oct 2026 · HARMONY TECHNOLOGY (ZHEJIANG) CO., LTD.

Harmony Technology supplies four chlorinated products for export markets, each quoted with its CAS and UN numbers: methyl chloride is CAS 74-87-3 / UN 1063, dichloromethane is CAS 75-09-2 / UN 1593, chloroform is CAS 67-66-3 / UN 1888 and perchloroethylene is CAS 127-18-4 / UN 1897. Methyl chloride is a liquefied gas and moves in pressure-rated containment; the other three are ambient liquids and travel in closed-head drums and UN-marked IBCs.

Three of these are chlorinated methanes and the fourth is a chlorinated ethylene, but they are bought and shipped as one line, and the same two things decide the quotation: the product’s state at ambient temperature, and the transport classification that follows from it.

The four products

Two things follow from the table. The state decides the packaging — methyl chloride is held at its own vapour pressure, so a drum or an IBC is not an option for it; the other three are ambient liquids, and the drum/IBC/ISO-tank choice is a volume question rather than a chemical one. The CAS decides what is actually being quoted — “chloroform” and “chloromethane” are one substance each, but a request written only as “chlorinated solvent” does not fix a grade.

Grade, and why it is a list of limits

A chlorinated solvent is bought at a stated grade, and the grade is a set of limits rather than a single purity figure: water content, acidity, non-volatile residue, and the trace impurities a particular process is sensitive to.

• Dichloromethane for pharmaceutical work and dichloromethane for paint stripping are the same CAS bought to different limits — so the grade belongs in the purchase order, stated against the producer’s specification sheet or a named framework, not inferred from the product name.
• Water and acidity matter more than headline purity for most solvent uses, because both move through a plant’s feed and both are cheap to specify on paper and expensive to discover on arrival.
• Stabiliser content is part of the specification. Some chlorinated solvents are supplied with a stabiliser to limit decomposition in storage and handling; the specification should say whether the grade is stabilised and at what level, because it changes both the storage advice and the COA.

Documents that travel with the goods

As a trading company we pass through the producer’s documents. We do not re-issue another laboratory’s COA, and we do not restate a producer’s limit as our own measurement. Every figure on a quotation comes from a document the buyer can read too, with the issuing entity named on it.

The regulatory layer

Chlorinated solvents are among the more regulated industrial chemicals, and the rules are set by end use and destination rather than by the drum:

• Use restrictions differ by market. Several jurisdictions restrict particular chlorinated solvents in particular applications — dichloromethane in paint stripping and perchloroethylene in dry cleaning are the commonly cited examples. Which restrictions apply depends on the destination and the end use, and it is a matter for the buyer’s compliance team.
• The transport layer is separate from the use layer. A product may be freely shipped as dangerous goods while its end use is restricted, or restricted both ways. The shipment classification is the one declared in the producer’s SDS; it is not adjusted to make a booking easier.
• Ozone-depleting-substance rules sit on top where they apply. Methyl chloride carries an ASHRAE designation (R-40) and appears on refrigerant lists as well as solvent lists; where a destination treats it under an ozone-depleting or F-gas regime, that regime governs the entry.

How to raise an enquiry

Send these and the quotation can be specific rather than indicative:

• Product and CAS number (and the designation, if the request arrived in that form).
• Grade basis and the critical limits — water, acidity, non-volatile residue, stabiliser.
• Packaging format, unit count, and net weight per unit.
• Destination port or receiving site, and whether the last leg involves inland dangerous-goods delivery.
• Documents required before shipment (specification sheet, COA, SDS language, certificates).
• Incoterm and quantity. MOQ is per product and per package — it is quoted, not assumed.

FAQ

Which chlorinated products are supplied? Four: methyl chloride (CAS 74-87-3, UN 1063), dichloromethane (CAS 75-09-2, UN 1593), chloroform (CAS 67-66-3, UN 1888) and perchloroethylene (CAS 127-18-4, UN 1897).

Why does methyl chloride travel differently from the other three? Because it is a liquefied gas at about −24 °C boiling point, held at its own vapour pressure, so it moves in pressure-rated cylinders or ISO tanks; the others are ambient liquids in drums and IBCs.

Are these products unrestricted at the destination? No. Chlorinated solvents carry use restrictions in a number of markets, and the position differs by country and end use. Our documents describe the product as classified; whether a given end use is permitted at the destination belongs with your compliance team.

What decides whether a chlorinated product goes in a drum or an ISO tank? Volume and state. Drums and IBCs cover the first few tonnes; an ISO tank is used once the volume justifies the unit. For methyl chloride the state fixes it — pressure-rated containment only.

What we can provide

These four are supplied by the group’s operating companies, quoted by CAS, grade and net weight per unit, with the document set for the route listed on the quotation rather than implied. Where the end use is regulated at the destination, the requirement is stated before the order rather than discovered after it.

Who contracts and ships: every shipment is contracted, invoiced and shipped by the group operating company named on the quotation and on the documents for that shipment. This page is the group’s technical reference material.

Related

• Dichloromethane: specification and export — the DCM line in detail.
• Electronic specialty gases: the CAS-listed fluorinated gases we supply — the fluorinated line.
• Which refrigerants, chloromethanes and electronic specialty gases are supplied, in which grades and packing formats — the full supply scope.
• Dangerous-goods mixed loading: what can be combined — consolidating several lines in one container.
• Reading a COA against the specification sheet — how the batch documents are checked at receipt.

Sources

• NIST WebBook — Chloromethane (methyl chloride), CAS 74-87-3, lists UN 1063 and R 40: https://webbook.nist.gov/cgi/cbook.cgi?ID=C74873
• NIOSH Pocket Guide — Methyl chloride, CAS 74-87-3, DOT ID 1063: https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/npg/npgd0403.html
• PubChem — Dichloromethane, CAS 75-09-2 (CID 6344; UN 1593; EC 200-838-9): https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/6344
• NIST WebBook — Chloroform (trichloromethane), CAS 67-66-3: https://webbook.nist.gov/cgi/cbook.cgi?ID=C67663
• NIST WebBook — Tetrachloroethylene (perchloroethylene), CAS 127-18-4, lists UN 1897, bp 121.3 °C: https://webbook.nist.gov/cgi/cbook.cgi?ID=C127184
• NTP Report on Carcinogens — Tetrachloroethylene, CAS 127-18-4: https://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/sites/default/files/ntp/roc/content/profiles/tetrachloroethylene.pdf
• ASHRAE — Refrigerant designations (R-40 methyl chloride; R-30 dichloromethane): https://www.ashrae.org/technical-resources/standards-and-guidelines/ashrae-refrigerant-designations
• State Council of the PRC — Regulations on the Safety Administration of Dangerous Chemicals (Decree No. 591): https://www.gov.cn/zhengce/2011-03/11/content_2602576.htm

Prepared by HARMONY TECHNOLOGY (ZHEJIANG) CO., LTD., a member of Hangrui Group — an international trading company (sourcing, consolidation and documentation), not a manufacturer. Purity, impurity and moisture limits are those stated in the supplier’s specification sheet and certificate of analysis for the batch shipped; designations, UN numbers and classes quoted here are published identifiers, and the classification of a given shipment is the one declared in that product’s SDS. The regulatory position of any specific end use at any specific destination remains a matter for the buyer and its advisers.