A Dry-Cleaning Chemical is being phased out of common household cleaners–here’s why you should steer clear of it

If you ever wondered how “dry cleaning” got its name, it’s because the process avoids water completely, instead using hydrocarbon solvents to clean your clothing and upholstery.  In our previous article, we talked about how one chemical used heavily in dry cleaning for decades, “PERC” (perchloroethylene or tetrachloroethylene) is not healthy for you, but you can avoid a lot of it by airing out your dry-cleaned items before wearing them or bringing them into your home.  However, a new study showed that we may be unwittingly bringing PERC into our homes with some household cleaning products.  

Sometimes traditional causes of disease don’t “add up” in a patient’s life, like someone who doesn’t drink alcohol getting liver disease or cancer.  Liver disease most often develops due to one of three major causes: excessive alcohol use, the buildup of fat in the liver associated with obesity, diabetes, and high cholesterol, or viral infections such as hepatitis B and C. (Hidden household toxin triples liver disease risk, study finds)  The unseen fact that we are exposed to thousands of chemicals everyday in household cleaning products or even where we live, could explain why.

The study found that people with PERC exposure were three times more likely to develop severe liver scarring, called liver fibrosis, even when traditional risk factors like alcohol or obesity were absent. 

PERC can be found not only in dry-cleaned clothes, but supposedly also in the following household cleaning products (New Study Links Common Cleaning Chemical to Liver Damage—How To Keep Your Family Safe): 

• Cleaning supplies: Stainless steel polishes and some metal cleaners

• Fabric and upholstery products: Waterproofing sprays and heavy-duty spot and stain removers for furniture and upholstery

• Adhesives: Contact glues and craft solvents

We understand that you need certain products to do a thorough job of cleaning, and that the labels are confusing.  Here’s where turning to a resource like the Environmental Working Group (EWG.org) enables us to do a better job of choosing healthy products: they have rated thousands of products for toxicity on their website, and have easy to understand information about obscure ingredients.  They also have consumer guides to everyday tasks like cleaning, food preparation, etc. and an EWG Verified list of 136 products that avoid concerning ingredients. 

The danger of PERC is especially concerning for children.  “Children have a higher metabolic rate and breathe in more air relative to their body size, which can lead to higher concentration exposure of the chemical,” says Dr. Burke. “Young children also often spend more time where chemical vapors from carpets or cleaning products can settle, and have a hand-to-mouth behavior that can lead to ingesting residues containing PCE.” (New Study Links Common Cleaning Chemical to Liver Damage—How To Keep Your Family Safe): 

For my own benefit, I looked under my parents’ and my sinks (yes of course that’s where all the cleaners reside!) and pulled out these cleaning products, some of them decades old.  Here’s the lineup: 

I couldn’t find any labels or information that confirmed they had PERC, but some did have VOCs like ethanol, butanol and propane!  I knew what I wanted to do with some of them: bring them to a “Hazardous Waste Day” that our county sponsors every other year.  

The following article on the EPA website declares that all consumer products must be free from PERC within 3 years.  (Risk Management for Perchloroethylene (PCE)).   It does seem currently that dry cleaning is the major source of PERC in the home, unless you do automotive work (brake cleaners are especially dangerous, because PERC is good at dissolving the grease).  

Even if we don’t bring PERC in with the cleaners we use, dry-cleaning is still very popular, especially with office workers and wealthier people.  And guess what?  The higher-income individuals involved in the study appeared more likely to have detectable PERC in their blood, possibly due to greater use of dry-cleaning services.  Workers in dry-cleaning facilities still face the highest risk because of long-term, direct contact with the chemical.  The EPA has set a 10-year phaseout for the use of PCE in dry cleaning, although it’s already been banned in California by state authorities.  If you live near a dry cleaners, there’s a risk that PERC could get into the groundwater or drinking water supply, so we still have a decade to go until this danger passes as well.  (Hidden household toxin triples liver disease risk, study finds) 

Thankfully, the EPA has listened to the many health and environmental advocates who have been pushing for such bans.  As always, it's up to consumers to continue to watch what they buy and use at home to protect themselves and their families.

Photo by Waldemar Brandt on Unsplash