When: Thursday, April 17, 2008 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM PDT

Register at https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/580016940

This webinar will focus on alternatives to perchloroethylene (PERC) in dry cleaning.  PERC is a carcinogen and PERC dry cleaning is scheduled to be phased out over the next several years in dry cleaning in California.  Other states are also considering similar regulations.  There are a variety of alternatives that are replacing PERC including hydrocarbon, Green Earth, glycol ether cleaning, water-based cleaning using various processes, and carbon dioxide cleaning.  Characteristics of these cleaning processes will be discussed.  The webinar will also focus on safer alternatives to PERC and trichloroethylene (TCE) used extensively in the textile cleaning industry for spotting.  TCE, like PERC, is a carcinogen.  Alternatives that can be used for spotting garments include water-based and soy based cleaners.

System Requirements
PC-based attendees
Required: Windows® 2000, XP Home, XP Pro, 2003 Server, Vista

Macintosh®-based attendees
Required: Mac OS® X 10.3.9 (Panther®) or newer

Read the full story in American Drycleaner.

New Jersey’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is issuing a plan to phase out perchloroethylene use in drycleaning, with a full ban effective in 2021.

It isn’t surprising that we remain ignorant of the second most substantial threat to our drinking water resources — releases of dangerous chemicals by dry cleaners. It is imperative that the states without programs work now to craft legislation necessary for the overdue solution to this pressing problem, writes Markus Niebanck in the October issue of EP.

Read the full story in the Arizona Republic.

A feud erupted in the dry-cleaning industry after an article ran in The Arizona Republic in July featuring a young entrepreneur and his “organic” cleaning technique. Brad Keeling, owner of Organic Cleaners in north Phoenix and downtown, uses a solvent called DF2000, a synthetic petroleum. Keeling advertises that his solvent is chemically inert, biodegradable and non-toxic. And the name of his business, Organic Cleaners, implies a “green” establishment.

This is where things get a little complicated, because of differing perceptions of what the word organic means. When you go to the grocery store and buy organic foods, you’re buying foods that are pesticide-free and absent of any growth stimulants. But when you buy any other product that is labeled “organic,” you’re getting a product that contains a hydrocarbon, because by definition a chemical is organic if it contains the element carbon. DF2000 is indeed organic, but so is gasoline and most all other dry-cleaning solvents used since the industry was created, including perchloroethylene, or perc, the solvent used by more than 85 percent of U.S. dry cleaners. So the word “organic” doesn’t translate to environmentally friendly, chemical-free and “green” when it comes to dry cleaning.

Newsweek has a series on it’s web site about a San Diego dry cleaner who switched from perc to wet cleaning. The wen-only series includes video interviews. There are four parts:

• Mr. Clean introduces the dry cleaner and describes why he decided to make the change.
• Reluctant Activist describes his role in the national debate over the use of perc.
• Clean Appeal discusses his marketing strategy.
• Clean Lab follows his search for a greener cleaning technology.

This site contains information related to California’s dry cleaning regulations including the requirements of the environmental training program and the approved equipment list. Perc emissions in California result primarily from the use of the solvent in dry cleaning operations.” Includes material about the Toxic Dry Cleaning Incentive Program that provides financial assistance to the dry cleaning industry to switch from systems using perchloroethylene to non-toxic and non-smog-forming alternatives. [Thanks to Librarian's Index to the Internet for the pointer]

Read the full story in the Los Angeles Times.

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.

Read the full article in Occupational Health & Safety.

In a study of five hazardous chemicals, researchers said they identified at least one alternative that was commercially available, was likely to meet the technical requirements of some users, and was likely to have reduced environmental and occupational health and safety impacts.

The state of Massachusetts commissioned the study to carefully consider whether less toxic alternatives were available for lead, formaldehyde, perchloroethylene, hexavalent chromium, and di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (DEHP).

The Toxics Use Reduction Institute (TURI) at the University of Massachusetts Lowell conducted an alternatives assessment comparing the five chemicals with approximately 100 alternatives within 16 applications. For example, formaldehyde, a known cause of cancer in humans and used by beauty and barber shops as a sanitizer, was compared to two alternatives — ultraviolet light cabinets and storing implements in a dry, disinfected covered container without formaldehyde.

Read the executive summary and download the full TURI study (409 p.) at http://www.turi.org/content/content/view/full/2739/.

Read the full story in the Washington Post.

The Environmental Protection Agency tightened public health standards for dry cleaners yesterday, saying that cleaning shops in residential buildings must stop using a toxic solvent in their machines by 2020.