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About Usperchloroethylene dry clean solvent |
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Item : 127-18-4 |
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Details :Dry cleaning (as opposed to "wet cleaning" with water and a detergent) is thought to have been discovered by accident in 1825 when a worker in a French dye factory knocked a turpentine-fuelled lamp on to a dirty tablecloth and noticed that when the spill evaporated, the stain disappeared too.
Until the 1940s, petroleum-based solvents were used; these had the distinct disadvantage of having a low flash point and occasionally combusting, which didn't exactly help with the cleaning task at hand. Since then, other solvents have been used including CFC 113, a chlorofluorocarbon solvent, which as well as cleaning clothes also helped to clean the earth of its ozone layer (it has since been banned). In the long pursuit of more stable, less harmful solvents, about 85% of dry cleaners now use perchoroethylene. But there are widespread and persistent concerns about its safety, particularly for those regularly exposed to it. The US government's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) certainly seems to take a dim view of its use: "The main effects of [perc] in humans are neurological, liver and kidney effects following acute and chronic inhalation exposure. Adverse reproductive effects, such as spontaneous abortions, have been reported from occupational exposure . . . Results from epidemiological studies of [occupational exposure] suggest increased risks for several types of cancer." The International Agency for Research on Cancer has also classified perc as a "probable carcinogen". (It is so potent that it can even be detected on the breath weeks after someone is heavily exposed to it by inhalation.) |
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