Why Kidney Cancer Is the Cancer Most Linked to TCE

Trichloroethylene, or TCE is an industrial solvent used for most of the last century to strip grease from metal parts, clean machinery, and make other chemicals.

In October 2012, a working group at the International Agency for Research on Cancer classified TCE as carcinogenic to humans, the agency's highest category. The working group's published summary found sufficient evidence in humans for kidney cancer.

If you spent years working with industrial degreasers, metal cleaning solvents, or parts washers, and you now have kidney cancer, you probably have more questions than answers.

Is there a real connection? Can you prove it came from your job? Is it too late to do anything?

This guide covers what the research shows, how TCE harms the kidney, who was exposed, and what New York law requires if you are considering a claim.

How TCE Damages the Kidney

When the body breaks down TCE, most of it goes through the liver. Some of it follows a second pathway called glutathione conjugation, and the products of that pathway are processed in the kidney. EPA scientists describe one of them, a compound known as DCVC, being converted in kidney tissue into reactive forms that damage cells.

The IARC working group found that metabolites from this pathway are genotoxic, meaning they can damage DNA, particularly in kidney cells.

One study it reviewed found a telling detail. Exposed workers with an active form of the enzyme that drives this pathway had higher kidney cancer risk, while exposed workers without the active enzyme did not.

That is the kind of biological fit that makes the kidney finding stronger than the evidence for most workplace chemicals.

What the Worker Studies Found

The National Toxicology Program based its conclusion on three things: consistent findings across different study designs, countries, and industries; risk that rose with the level or duration of exposure; and combined analyses showing a statistically significant increase.

Two meta-analyses combining the research found about 27 percent and 32 percent higher risk among workers ever exposed to TCE.

One found about 58 percent higher risk in the highest exposure groups. Those are relative increases compared with unexposed people, not the chance that an exposed worker will get cancer.

Why the Exact Diagnosis Matters

"Kidney cancer" covers more than one disease. National Cancer Institute statistics group renal cell carcinoma, which forms in the small tubes that filter the blood, with renal pelvis cancer, which forms where urine collects, and with Wilms tumor in children.

Kidney cancer is common. SEER data project about 80,450 new cases of kidney and renal pelvis cancer and 15,160 deaths in the United States in 2026, with a median age at diagnosis of 65. Timing matters enormously.

About two-thirds of cases are found while still confined to the kidney, where five-year relative survival is about 94 percent. Once the cancer has spread to distant organs, it falls to about 20 percent. Those national figures include all causes, and they cannot tell anyone what share were caused by TCE.

Who Was Exposed to TCE at Work

The heaviest exposures came from direct, repeated contact in enclosed or poorly ventilated spaces. Common settings include:

• Vapor degreasers and parts washers in metal fabrication

• Machine shops and tool and die work

• Aircraft and aerospace parts manufacturing

• Electronics and circuit board manufacturing

• Auto repair, where TCE was found in some brake and parts cleaners

Workers breathed the vapor and absorbed liquid through their skin. Many never saw the word "trichloroethylene." It went by trade names, or simply "the degreaser" or "tri."

The levels could be enormous. The state health department's fact sheet cites research putting average U.S. workplace air levels from the 1950s through the 1980s at about 210,000 micrograms per cubic meter, roughly 100,000 times the state's guideline for indoor air.

OSHA's exposure limit for TCE is still 100 parts per million, a figure carried over from a 1967 consensus standard, so compliance with it does not show the exposure was safe.

Kidney cancer linked to chemical exposure can take decades to appear. Someone who worked around TCE in their 20s or 30s may not be diagnosed until retirement.

What You Have to Prove in New York

The clearest New York example involves Endicott in Broome County. In Ivory v. International Business Machines Corp., decided by the Appellate Division, Third Department, in 2014, the court described IBM's use of TCE from 1935 through the mid-1980s to clean metal parts in degreasers and to make circuit boards.

In 1979, IBM discovered solvents including TCE pooled in the groundwater beneath the plant, and later investigations found TCE vapor entering nearby homes.

One plaintiff, alleged that TCE exposure caused his kidney cancer. The court let his negligence claim go forward, noting that his physician had concluded TCE was a significant contributing factor in his cancer while IBM's experts disputed it.

Because he had a present injury, the court also allowed him to seek the cost of future medical monitoring as part of his damages.

New York does not allow a medical monitoring claim on its own for someone who was exposed but is not yet sick.

Can You Sue Your Employer?

Usually not. Under Workers' Compensation Law § 11, workers' compensation is generally the only remedy against your own employer for a work-related illness, even if the employer failed to provide ventilation or protective equipment.

The exception is an employer that failed to carry workers' compensation insurance. In exchange, you do not have to prove fault to receive benefits, though you still have to show the cancer came from your work.

Workers' compensation pays medical costs and part of your lost wages, but not pain and suffering. Those damages may be available from companies other than your employer. Depending on the facts, that can include:

• The manufacturer or supplier of the TCE or the degreasing product, for failing to warn about cancer risk

• The maker of the degreasing equipment

• The owner of a facility where you worked through a contractor or staffing agency

You can collect workers' compensation and pursue a third-party claim at the same time, though part of any recovery usually goes back to repay the compensation carrier.

Where TCE Stands Today

New York prohibits using TCE as a vapor degreaser or in other manufacturing and industrial cleaning processes. In December 2024, the EPA issued a rule prohibiting most uses of TCE nationwide, with some industrial uses, such as cleaning aircraft parts, phased out over a longer period.

The EPA has since extended some compliance dates and postponed parts of the rule while it is under court review.

None of that changes a claim based on exposure years ago, which is what nearly every TCE kidney cancer case involves.

What to Do After a Diagnosis

Write down every job where you worked around degreasers or solvents: the employer, the dates, the tasks, and the products and equipment you used. Note any coworkers who did the same work.

Keep your complete medical records, including the pathology report that names the type of kidney cancer.

If you suspect a delayed diagnosis, our page on other types of cancer explains how Porter Law Group handles those claims.

Talk With a New York Cancer Lawyer

A TCE kidney cancer claim depends on your work history, your medical history, and how well your exposure can be reconstructed.

Porter Law Group's New York cancer lawyers can review your records and explain whether workers' compensation, a third-party claim, or both fit your situation. Call 833-888-LATE or request a free case evaluation.

Attorney advertising. This article provides general information and is not legal advice. Filing deadlines depend on the facts of each case.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does TCE exposure cause kidney cancer?

Yes. The International Agency for Research on Cancer classifies trichloroethylene as carcinogenic to humans, based on sufficient evidence that it causes kidney cancer. The EPA classifies TCE as carcinogenic by all routes of exposure. The strongest evidence comes from workers who used TCE to degrease metal parts, where kidney cancer risk rose with heavier exposure.

What jobs exposed workers to TCE?

The heaviest exposures came from metal degreasing and parts washing, especially with vapor degreasers. Machinists, aircraft and aerospace workers, electronics and circuit board workers, tool and die makers, and some auto mechanics were commonly exposed. Many workers never saw the chemical's name and knew it only as "the degreaser" or "tri."

Can I sue my employer for kidney cancer caused by TCE in New York?

Usually not. New York's Workers' Compensation Law makes workers' compensation the only remedy against your own employer in most cases. You may still have a lawsuit against other companies, such as the maker or supplier of the TCE product or the degreasing equipment, which can recover damages workers' compensation does not pay.

How long do I have to file a TCE kidney cancer claim in New York?

For a lawsuit, you generally have three years from the date you discovered your cancer, usually the diagnosis, under CPLR 214-c. A workers' compensation claim must generally be filed within two years after disablement and after you knew or should have known the cancer was caused by your work. Deadlines depend on the facts.

Can I still bring a TCE kidney cancer claim if I smoked?

Often, yes. Smoking is a kidney cancer risk factor, and the defense will raise it, but it does not rule out a TCE claim. Studies linking TCE to kidney cancer adjusted for smoking and still found higher risk. Your expert will need to address your smoking history directly when explaining why TCE contributed.