Dry cleaning is an extremely toxic process that uses perchlorethylene to extract blemishes from fabric while weakening the integrity of garments to make them more amenable to pressing and folding.
What is perchlorethylene?
Tetrachloroethylene, more commonly referred to as perchlorethylene or PERC, is a man-made substance widely used for dry cleaning fabrics and textiles and in metal-degreasing operations. Although PERC is a liquid at room temperature, some of the liquid can be expected to evaporate into the air producing an ether-like odor; evaporation increases as temperature increases.
Did you bring home a load of freshly dry-cleaned clothes this week? Then you may also have brought home headaches, nausea, and an increased risk of developing cancer. Health effects associated with exposure to PERC include depression of the central nervous system; damage to the liver and kidneys; and impaired memory, confusion, dizziness, headache, drowsiness, and eye, nose, and throat irritation.
Repeated dermal exposure may result in dry, scaly, and fissured dermatitis. There is increasing evidence of human carcinogenicity. The uncontrolled use of PERC has the potential to cause widespread harm to the health of dry cleaning workers, the people living near dry cleaning shops, the general public, and the global environment. Because significant adverse health effects have been discovered, many countries have imposed stringent regulations for the control of PERC exposures and emissions.
PERC has been a known animal carcinogen since the early 1990s, and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) recently found adequate evidence to classify the solvent as a possible human carcinogen. In December 1991, the EPA began regulating PERC as a hazardous air pollutant under Section 112 of the Clean Air Act. Until the 1980s, it was legal for dry cleaners to pour used PERC down the drain. According to a government study, PERC now contaminates up to 25% of U.S. drinking water.
Modern, closed-loop machines and innovations in vapor recovery equipment and other technologies have reduced occupational exposures and environmental emissions. However, many of the modern controls that have been developed are cost prohibitive for small shops, and some work practices are inadequate. Today, approximately 90% of U.S. dry cleaners use PERC in their machines.
What can I do?
Limit the amount of dry-clean-only clothes you buy.
Learn which dry-clean-only garments can be safely washed by non-toxic methods.
Take your clothes to a wet cleaning facility, when possible.
What is wet cleaning?
Wet cleaning by water immersion is a method for cleaning garments that would normally have been cleaned in solvent. Wet cleaning became popular recently in Europe and the U.S. because of the strong environmental regulations restricting the use of solvents. Most techniques are similar in that they use specially formulated wet-cleaning soaps and spotting agents, consisting of enzymes, peptides, synthetic polymers, and anionic and nonionic tensides. Several measures are used to reduce the risks of damage to clothes, the main ones being the following:
One of the major advantages of wet cleaning is the elimination of dry cleaning solvents and their associated health and fire hazards.
Many soils are more easily removed with water than solvent. This is particularly true for water-soluble stains resulting from sugars, salts, drinks, body fluids, starch, milk, and most foods.
Wet cleaning may help to keep the white garments whiter. Sometimes white garments can be dulled when cleaned with recycled PERC or other solvents.
Wet-cleaned garments have a more pleasant smell when compared to the chemical odor associated with garments cleaned in solvent.
Drawbacks:
Dry cleaning solvents do a better job of removing, greases, oils, waxes, and resins.
Garments made of wool, silk, and viscose rayon cannot easily be immersed in water because of possible garment damage from fiber shrinkage or bleeding of dyes. Most problem garments fall into one of the following categories: suit jackets with front fixing in the construction, coats, items with shoulder pads, and ornate clothing.
Wet cleaning appears to be a viable option for reducing the usage of dry cleaning solvents. However, the technology has not developed to the point where it can completely eliminate the need for dry cleaning solvents. If you are interested in trying this technology out, try searching for European cleaners in your area.
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