EPA orders dry-cleaning chemical phase-out

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EPA orders dry-cleaning chemical phase-out

Fri Jul 14, 8:51 PM ET

http://news./s/ap/20060715/ap_on_he_me/dry_cleaning_pollution

 

 

WASHINGTON - Dry cleaners operating in residential buildings will have to

begin phasing out their use of a suspected cancer-causing chemical.

 

The Environmental Protection Agency said Friday it was tightening rules for

the nation's 28,000 dry-cleaning businesses that use perchloroethylene, or perc

.. The solvent has a sharp, sweet odor that most people can easily smell — and

affects the central nervous system.

 

Officials said the rule is an attempt to eliminate the risk, though small,

that people could get sick from smelling perc used at a dry cleaning business

located in a building where people live. EPA spokeswoman Jennifer Wood called

that risk preventable.

 

Dry cleaners in residential buildings must eliminate machines that use the

chemical as the machines wear out; they generally last about 15 years. By 2020,

no dry cleaning machines in residential buildings will be permitted to use it.

Improvements also are required in detecting and repairing leaks of perc, one

of 187 substances EPA regulates as hazardous air pollutants.

 

All those are known or suspected to cause cancer and other serious health

problems. EPA began its air toxics standards program in 1993, but it has been

updating those regulations to comply with a settlement with the Sierra Club over

the agency's missed deadlines.

 

EPA said dry cleaners have cut their perc emissions by about 15,000 tons

since the program began, by using other solvents and replacing older

dry-cleaning

machines.

 

On the Net:

 

EPA: http://www.epa.gov/air/drycleaningrule