Dry Cleaning Dangers and Alternatives
When choosing a dry cleaner, many people make a choice based on location, convenience, or cost. While important, there are other factors to be considered that might be more critical, especially for those who are concerned about the impact of dry cleaning on the environment or on our health. The dry cleaning services who use less toxic methods are often referred to as “Green Dry Cleaners."
How Can Dry Cleaning be Dry?
Traditionally, dry cleaning is a process that uses a chemical solvent to clean clothes. Although the solvents are in a liquid form, this type of cleaning is called "dry" because no water is used in the process. When dry cleaning first started, solvents such as kerosene and gasoline were frequently used. Over time, safer and cheaper alternatives became available, leading to the most commonly used perchloroethylene. While this chemical solvent may be safer than its predecessors, research is showing that this chemical is not really that safe after all.
What Is Perchloroethylene?
Perchloroethylene is the most commonly used dry-cleaning fluid. It is a stable, non-flammable compound that effectively removes dirt and oils from all types of fabrics. Perchloroethylene has many other names, including perc, PCE, and tetrachloroethylene. While perc is beneficial to the dry-cleaning business, helping to reduce costs and space needed for business, this solvent is detrimental to both the environment and human health.
Perchloroethylene Effects on the Environment
Although perc is a liquid at room temperature, it is readily evaporated into the air, according to the American Cancer Society. Once in the air, this chemical can make its way into the soil and groundwater sources, either through rain or through re-condensation. Perc can also make its way into soil and groundwater through waste disposal.
Perchloroethylene Effects on Human Health
Humans are most at risk of breathing this chemical through the air when inside a facility that uses this solvent or when they open garment bags of clothing that have been cleaned with perc. There is also risk of exposure through contaminated water. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), many effects on health have been uncovered, including problems with:
- Upper respiratory system
- Kidneys and liver
- Central nervous system
- Neurological function
- Mental health
- Reproductive system
- Immune system
- Fetal development
- Cancer risk
"Organic" Dry Cleaning Methods
Because only a small amount of perchloroethylene can create harmful effects, other methods of dry cleaning are also available. Any method that does not use perc as a cleaning solution is often labeled as "organic," though in this case, organic does not necessarily equal safe. GreenEarth Cleaning, DrySolv, and hydrocarbon solvents, while they may seem environmentally friendly, preliminary research shows that these chemicals may cause harmful health effects as well, including cancer, reproductive problems, and neurological problems.
Are There Safe Dry Cleaning Options?
There are currently two safe options for having your clothes professionally cleaned, according to Breastcancer.org. Professional wet cleaning uses non-toxic components that are biodegradable, and carbon dioxide, or CO2 cleaning, that pressurizes carbon dioxide into a liquid during use, then returns to a gaseous state when completed. The main drawbacks for the truly environmentally-friendly dry cleaners is that they may not be conveniently located and cost much more than other dry cleaning methods.
What Can I Do to Reduce My Risk from Dry Cleaning Solvents?
If you cannot access professional wet cleaning or CO2 cleaning, you can reduce your risk of exposure to toxic dry cleaning chemicals in several ways. Wear an undershirt between your body and dry-clean only clothing to increase the number of uses before needing cleaned. When bringing items back from the cleaners, air them outside to reduce perc evaporation in the air in your home. Some garments may be hand-washed at home and laid flat to dry to reduce shrinkage. It's almost impossible to totally rid our need for dry-cleaning but hopefully we can choose which dry cleaning methods to use and we can take some safety measures if our local area does not offer one of the two safe “Green" dry cleaning services.
Sources:
American Cancer Society; Tetrachlorethylene (Perchloroethylene)
http://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancercauses/othercar...
United States Environmental Protection Agency; Tetrachloroethylene (Perchloroethylene)
http://www.epa.gov/ttnatw01/hlthef/tet-ethy.html
Dr. Marisa Weiss; Can Dry Cleaning Really Be Green?; Breastcancer.org
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