When I was in the Navy they made us use this stuff (Trichorethylene (TCE) to clean the grease off of bolts that we took out of the flight deck of the aircraft carrier I served on (the USS Constellation) between 1964 - 1966. They said to use rubber gloves but they didn't always have gloves to give us. So we had to dunk our hands in a bucket of Trichorethylene and wash the bolts off that way. I want to tell you that stuff was strong. It would burn right into your hands and take all of the oil and moisture out of them. One day I was washing the bolts and I dropped one of them and it landed with a splash into the bucket. The Trichorethylene splashed into my eyes and I was instantly blind and in such horrible pain. I screamed and the guys took me down to sick bay where they washed out my eyes. Thank goodness it worked and I could see again. I didn't lose my sight. But now I wonder if that had anything to do with being on disability since 1987?
