Word: perce
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...practiced by the vast majority of laundry shops around the country, dry cleaning can be anything but clean. Most of the 35,000 dry cleaners in the U.S. use a colorless liquid called perchloroethylene (perc) as a solvent in the laundering process. Perc is not pretty - it's a volatile organic compound that in small doses can cause dizziness, headaches and respiratory irritation. Prolonged perc exposure has been linked to liver and kidney damage, and the government has identified the chemical as a potential occupational carcinogen...
Though the greatest risk is in the dry-cleaning workplace, perc can get into customers' homes and even into the air, water and soil when dry cleaners dispose of waste. But there are greener alternatives - and a growing number of cleaners taking advantage of them. One approach is to have your clothes professionally wet-cleaned, using cold water, mild soaps and a computer-controlled washing machine that spins very slowly, which reduces wear and tear on fabric. That may be the greenest method - wet cleaning uses no volatile organic chemicals at all and is more energy efficient than traditional...
Although green cleaners are still in the minority, government action from the top may make the shift inevitable - California is phasing out the use of perc, and other states will probably follow. "There's definitely a market out there," says Kistner. There's no reason dry cleaning has to dirty the earth...
MORE THAN 80% OF U.S. DRY CLEANERS RELY ON THE solvent PCE (perchloroethylene), a chemical that is listed under the Clean Air Act as a hazardous air pollutant. Perc, as it is commonly known, can cause dizziness and headaches in workers, and some controversial studies link it to miscarriage and cancer. Perc is also fingered for contaminating underground water systems as well as apartments and restaurants adjacent to dry-cleaning establishments...
About 40% to 45% of the estimated 500 million pounds of perc produced annually is used by cleaners. In an effort to reduce exposure to perc, the Environmental Protection Agency, in collaboration with trade groups, has launched a four-week test of a new cleaning method that eschews all chemical solvent and depends instead on biodegradable soaps along with heat, steam and pressing. The experiment uses clothing volunteered by government employees in Washington and New York City. First up was EPA chief William Reilly, who turned over his regulation blue suit...