California will become the first state to phase out the use of perchloroethylene, or perc, a chemical used by commercial dry cleaners that has been linked in studies to bladder, esophageal and other cancers.
After several hours of debate between environmentalists and owners of small, family-owned dry cleaners who fear being put out of business, the California Air Resources Board voted unanimously Thursday to ban the purchase of new perc machines as of 2008 and to phase out the use of all perc by 2023.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Saturday January 27, 2007 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 46 words Type of Material: Correction
Dry-cleaning decision: An article in Friday's California section about the state phasing out perchloroethylene from dry-cleaning misidentified one of the people quoted. His name is Peter Sinsheimer, not Sensheiser, and he is director of the Pollution Prevention Center at Occidental College, not the Pollution Control Center.
The changes are expected to add about $1.50 to a $15 dry-cleaning bill as businesses pass along costs of new equipment that can range from $40,000 to $140,000, according to government and industry research.
"It's very important to public health to move in the direction of eliminating perc from dry-cleaning facilities in California.... But a lot of people are going to be affected by what we do today. There has to be a sense of fairness," said board member Barbara Riordan, who joined three other board members in rejecting a quicker phase-out requested by environmental groups. She also warned dry cleaners: "But when your perc machine goes down, you're going to buy a new [non-perc] one."
There are an estimated 4,900 dry cleaners statewide, and 70% are perc users, down from an estimated 85% in 2003, according to air board staff. The cost of phasing out perc is expected to cost about $41 million industrywide.
Representatives of dry-cleaning trade associations said members had "seen the handwriting on the wall" for the last few years in terms of possible tough new regulations and had begun to buy different types of machines even though they thought perc was superior for cleaning clothes and did not pose health hazards.
A dry-cleaning machine is somewhat similar to a combination home washing machine and dryer, with cleaning solvent, usually perc, injected through a perforated shell. Early professional cleaners used both wet-cleaning and petroleum-based products, but after perc was developed in the 1930s, it gained wide use as the best available, least flammable stain remover. Supporters say it also does not shrink clothes as wet cleaning does, though proponents of wet cleaning deny that.
