EPA gives OK to California ban on dry cleaning chemical

The federal Environmental Protection Agency has given the green light to California’s ban on a chemical many dry cleaners use.

Twenty years ago, California’s Air Resources Board identified perchloroethylene, or PERC, as a toxic air contaminant. For decades, though, dry cleaners relied on that solvent. Scientists say it’s a possible carcinogen that can cause neurological problems in humans and liver and kidney damage in rodents.

California has ordered dry cleaners to phase out the use of PERC by a dozen years from now. The US Environmental Protection Agency has given California permission to replace federal regulations with its own tougher rule.

The state’s Air Resources Board estimates that fewer than half the machines in California that used PERC five years ago are still cleaning with it now.

People who work in dry cleaning establishments are routinely exposed to PERC. So are people who take the cleaned clothes home.