In an historic move that could set a national precedent, the Southland’s air quality agency became the first in the nation today to approve a gradual phase out of the toxic chemical used at dry cleaners by 2020.
"As dry cleaners switch to alternative technologies, we will be removing a significant cancer risk to Southland residents," said Barry Wallerstein, executive officer of the South Coast Air Quality Management District.
"After considering all the concerns of the dry cleaning industry, AQMD’s Board adopted a rule that will both protect public health and minimize the economic impact to small businesses," he said.
AQMD’s Board today also approved $2 million in grants for dry cleaners that switch to a non-toxic alternative.
Following nearly two years of public meetings and a six-hour public hearing last month, AQMD’s Governing Board voted 11 to 0 today to amend the agency’s Rule 1421. The action will phase out the use of perchloroethylene -- the toxic solvent commonly known as "perc" -- by the year 2020.
Starting Jan. 1, 2003, any new dry cleaning business or any facility adding an additional machine must use a non-perc technology. Dry cleaners can continue to operate one perc machine until 2020 under the following conditions:
AQMD staff will report back to the Board in two years on any new information available regarding the toxicity of perc and the state of alternative technologies.
In place of perc machines, dry cleaners can choose from several non-toxic alternatives including wet cleaning, hydrocarbon or silicone-based solvent cleaning.
The rule will eliminate the 850 tons of perc emitted each year by the region’s 2,100 dry cleaners.
"Dry cleaners can help reduce health risks by switching from a toxic chemical to proven environmentally friendly alternatives," Wallerstein said.
Many Cleaners Now Using Alternatives
About 110 Southland cleaners already are using one of the three prevalent non-perc technologies: professional wet cleaning, hydrocarbon solvent and silicon-based solvent cleaning. (See the complete list of non-toxic cleaners on this website.)
Professional wet cleaning, which uses water and biodegradable soaps, is the most environmentally friendly alternative. First invented in Germany in 1991, wet cleaning relies on computer-controlled washers and dryers and specialized finishing equipment to clean a full range of garments, even the most delicate ones labeled "Dry Clean Only". Wet cleaning now is widely used in Europe, where one manufacturer alone has sold 800 machines.
Ten Southland cleaners use wet cleaning exclusively and are able to clean more than 96 percent of all garments received, which is comparable to dry cleaning. They also report electricity savings of up to 45 percent, or about $850 per year for the average cleaner. Wet cleaners also save money by not having to pay air toxic emission and hazardous waste disposal fees. Typical wet cleaning equipment costs about $29,000, or about $3,000 less than a comparably sized dry cleaning machine.
In a study co-funded by AQMD and released last month, researchers at the Pollution Prevention Education and Research Center at Occidental College in Los Angeles found that switching from dry cleaning to professional wet cleaning is a sound business decision. The detailed study of five area cleaners that made the switch found they were able to clean the full range of garments they previously dry cleaned, maintain the same level of customer satisfaction and cut costs. The full report can be downloaded at Occidental's website.
Hydrocarbon cleaning uses synthetic hydrocarbon solvents such as DF2000 in a machine and process similar to dry cleaning. There currently are about 75 hydrocarbon cleaners in the region.
Unlike perc, synthetic hydrocarbons are not considered toxic. They do contain volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and a small amount does volatilize and escape into the air. VOCs combine with another pollutant, oxides of nitrogen, in the atmosphere to form ozone smog. Assuming all dry cleaners switched to hydrocarbons, AQMD staff estimates that the transition could increase the region’s average VOC emissions by a total of about 0.6 tons per day.
Green Earth™, a silicone-based solvent, does not contain any VOCs and preliminary tests indicate that it is non-toxic. Hydrocarbon and silicon-based solvent machines cost about $10,000 more than a perc machine.
A fourth technology uses carbon dioxide pressurized to a liquid state. It is completely non-toxic but the equipment cost -- about $90,000 -- is too expensive at this time for widespread use.
AQMD Committed to Assisting Cleaners
Since 1996, AQMD has committed $400,000 to research and demonstrate wet cleaning and provide financial assistance to dry cleaners converting to the non-toxic alternative.
Today’s $2 million funding will provide grants of up to $10,000 for each dry cleaner switching to wet cleaning or carbon dioxide and up to $5,000 for each dry cleaner switching to hydrocarbon or Green Earth™ solvent. The grants will be available on a first-come, first-served basis, and for the first nine months, 50 percent will be reserved for areas with low income and high levels of cancer risk from air pollution.
Part of Overall Strategy to Reduce Toxics
AQMD’s perc proposal is part of an overall strategy to reduce air toxics that stems from the Board’s adoption of Environmental Justice Initiatives in 1997. Those initiatives included the MATES II study, which led to Board adoption of AQMD’s Air Toxics Control Plan in 2000.
Under the Air Toxics Control Plan, the Board last year amended Rule 1122 to reduce perc emissions from industrial degreasing and adopted Rule 1425 to reduce perc emissions from motion picture film cleaning and printing. Rule 1122 requires a 97 percent reduction and Rule 1425 an 85 percent reduction of perc emissions.
AQMD staff currently is developing a rule to reduce toxic emissions from metal plating and finishing facilities.
Perc and Cancer
Perchloroethylene is widely recognized in the scientific community as a toxic air contaminant known to cause cancer in animals and strongly suspected of causing cancer in humans. Agencies that have declared perc a possible, probable or likely human carcinogen include the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (a unit of the United Nations). The state of California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment classifies perc as a carcinogen.
While perc has not been proven to cause cancer in humans – very few toxic chemicals achieve that status -- several studies have linked perc exposure to increased cancer risk in dry cleaning workers. A large number of studies also have focused on the non-cancer effects of perc exposure, finding significant evidence of contamination of women’s breast milk and damage to the kidney, liver, gastrointestinal and respiratory systems.
Perc was identified as one of six key toxic air contaminants monitored in outdoor air in AQMD’s landmark Multiple Air Toxics Exposure Study (MATES II) of toxic air pollution reported in 2000. Even though dry cleaners have reduced their perc emissions by 80 percent during the last decade due to existing air pollution regulations, they still pose a relatively high cancer risk, in part because they frequently are located close to homes, businesses, schools, restaurants and child-care centers.
Based on AQMD’s field sampling of actual perc use at dry cleaners and OEHHA’s health effects assessment, Southland dry cleaners pose a cancer risk to nearby residents and workers ranging from about 20 to 140 in 1 million. Almost all industrial and commercial facilities in the region -- including oil refineries, power plants and aerospace manufacturers -- pose a cancer risk of less than 10 in 1 million.
Even with the latest, state-of-the-the art air pollution controls, some dry cleaners may have to reduce their maximum monthly perc usage to meet the rule’s 25 in 1 million cancer risk limit.
In addition to being a toxic air contaminant, perc is a major groundwater pollutant in Southern California due to improper disposal practices in the past by various industries. Because of perc’s "toxic liability," some landlords will no longer lease their property to dry cleaners.
AQMD is the air pollution control agency for Orange County and major portions of Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside counties.
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AQMD Home Page
This page updated: May 11, 2004
URL: http://www.aqmd.gov/news1/perc_adopt.htm