Is Your Dry-cleaner Or Garage Making Members Of Your Community Sick
PCE (perchloroethylene or perc) a powerful degreaser used in the dry cleaning business and also in the auto repair industry, could be making people very sick and even causing some cancers. PCE is a toxic chemical that, once spilled, can keep on contaminating soil, water and indoor air for decades.
Long-term inhalation of PCE over seven years or more may harm the nervous system, including the brain, as well as the kidneys and liver, immune, blood and reproductive systems, according to the EPA . The central nervous system is most vulnerable. PCE can cause changes in vision, slower reactions and reduced brain function. PCE has caused cancer in animals exposed to high concentrations. However, federal studies of people who use PCE as part of their jobs did not find cancer. EPA officials in 2012 conducted a re-assessment of PCE and concluded it is likely to cause cancer and harm nervous systems of people exposed over time to elevated levels.
PCE is heavier than water. When spilled, it swiftly sinks, penetrating concrete, soil and practically anything else in its way. When PCE reaches groundwater, it does not dissolve. Instead, PCE can collect against bedrock, forming pools that remain volatile for decades if the chemical is not removed or neutralized with other chemicals. Once in soil and groundwater, PCE can resurface as toxic vapors seeping into buildings. The challenge has been simply identifying PCE underground plumes and dealing with those that are known. PCE typically is found during commercial property transactions where banks require environmental testing before loans are approved.
It needs to be said, not everyone who is exposed to TCE, PCE, benzene, or VC will develop a health problem. A limited number of studies have been done that looked at the health problems in children and adults related to drinking water contaminated with TCE and PCE.
Reported health problems in children who were exposed in the womb from their mother drinking water contaminated with TCE and/or PCE include
Leukemia (1-3)
Small for gestational age (4-6)
Low birth weight (6-8)
Fetal death (4, 7, 9)
Major heart defects (7, 10)
Neural tube defects (4, 7, 9)
Oral cleft defects (including cleft lip) (4, 7, 9)
Chonal atresia (nasal passages blocked with bone or tissue) (4, 9)
Eye defects (4, 9)
Reported health problems in children who were exposed in the womb from their mother working with TCE and/or PCE include
Low birth weight (11)
Miscarriage (12, 13)
Major malformations (11)
Reported health problems in people of all ages from drinking water contaminated with TCE and/or PCE include
Non-Hodgkins lymphoma (1, 12)
Leukemia (1, 17)
Rectal cancer (14)
Bladder cancer (17)
Breast cancer (18)
Lung cancer (14)
Neurobehavioral performance deficits (i.e., delayed recall and deficits in visual perception), decreased blink reflex, and mood effects (i.e., confusion, depression and tension) (33, 34)
Reported health problems in people of all ages from working with TCE and/or PCE include
Hodgkins disease (15)
Non-Hodgkins lymphoma (15)
Cervical cancer (15)
Esophageal cancer (15, 30, 31)
Impaired immune system function (35)
Kidney cancer (15)
Liver/biliary cancer (15)
Ovarian cancer (15)
Parkinsons disease (36)
Prostate cancer (15)
End-stage renal disease (29)
Neurological effects (delayed reaction times problems with short-term memory, visual perception, attention, and color vision) (13)
Severe, generalized hypersensitivity skin disorder (an autoimmune-related disease) (32)
Scleroderma (32)
Reported health problems in people of all ages from working with benzene include
Non-Hodgkins lymphoma (19, 20)
Leukemias (21, 22)
Multiple myeloma (23)
Aplastic anemia (24)
Miscarriage (24)
Reported health problems in people of all ages from working with VC include
Liver cancer (25, 26)
Soft tissue sarcoma (26)
Brain cancer (26)
Lung cancer (27)
Liver cirrhosis (28)
PCE plumes are being found in every state and many communities. You should check with your health department to see if there is one in your area. PCE wont just go away over time they must be mitigated.
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Here is the article that prompted me to write this post:
Cancer-causing chemical PCE contaminates Colorado soil, water
The CO2 detector in my son's Civic stopped working.
They wanted $400 for the repair.
If that's not sickening, I don't know what is.
This is an interesting article Larry. I'm surprised it penetrates concrete. Gotta wonder why it is still being used when it has so many detrimental effects.
Not sure why the EPA is so slow to regulate this but in my home state of Colorado both state and communities are setting TLV's (threshold limit values) at much less than the EPA standards.
Some of these plumes are under the super fund for clean up and now the EPA wants to lower its own standard so they can stop spending money trying to clean this mess up. Keep in mind anything not cleaned up will be there forever.
The EPA regulates TCE, or PCE in drinking water. Maximum contaminant level is set by the EPA for drinking water at 5 ppbillion, or .0000005 mg/l
Here is a publication that has more information about it. Most states have more stringent standards for PCE or TCE. I know that KY regulates it, and most of the dry cleaners have stopped using it. It is still in heavy use in the auto industry. Here is Illinois' best management practices for dry cleaners , (PCE). So, the issue is being addressed, but BMP's (Best Management Practices) are usually voluntary.
I've contacted all the dry cleaners and garages within our Wellhead Protection Area and given them additional information about it. To me, the hard part about knowing what is in stuff, is knowing their trade names vs. their chemical names. Few bottles will list something like Sulfuric Acid, (as an example), but will list it as being called Devil's Spit, or some such nonsense.
Every state is different on their regulations, and, of course, army bases and the like don't always follow the EPA guidelines, which makes it so much fun for the states to clean up.
Hi, Jonathan!!!
I'm not standing up for the car industry, whose practices drive me nuts. But the CO2 detector is a sensor that reads the amount of CO2 coming out the exhaust system of the car. If your car needs work, it puts out more CO2 than it should. All the detector does is see if there is too much coming out, so it can shut the car down. I had a sensor go out in my Cavalier years and years ago... (15 years ago? or so?) and it cost $500 to replace.
At least this is how my husband explained it to me-- it is sort of an anti-pollution device. It doesn't affect the safety of driving the car. I used to teach auto mechanics, but we never got into it at this level. My husband is BMW/Lexus certified.
Hope you have a fabulous day!
((((((((((((((Jonathan)))))))))))))))))
My problem Dowser is why in the hell is this product still in use with all its inherent problems why don't they just ban the use and manufacturing of it all together. This stuffs like luggage you keep it forever.
Just like the fracking fluid fight. They wont tell you what's in it by dodging the answer with "Proprietary Secret" as if anyone that had the lab couldn't break it down. tThen they want to know why people are so against them (big oil).
Hey, it's like looking for a needle in the haystack to find who regulates what. Take Aboveground Storage Tanks, (ASTs), for example. Sometimes, it is regulated by size, sometimes it is regulated by what's in it. Heating oil tanks are different than gasoline tanks, etc. Who owns it? If it is a company, it faces a lot more regulation than if it's a farmer. Yet, who is the most likely to contaminate the groundwater with diesel fuel from a storage tank?
We're still trying to convince all the privately owned ASTs to put their tanks in a dike. It doesn't have to be a problem, or expensive, just something to hold the fluid while you clean it up.
It's all because of the money. EPA banned the use of DDT in the US. Great!!! But, our US companies still manufacture it, and it is still in use in many 3rd world countries, from which we buy a lot of our food... So why not ban the manufacture? They won't because that would interrupt profits. However 30 years later, the EPA is finally getting around to banning the manufacture of DDT. It only took 30 years...
I agree with you 100% on all of that crap.
Hey, do you remember those birds that dipped their beaks in water, based on the humidity? They were usually red and had a red fluid in their tube-like bodies. They were a TOY, for Pete's Sake, and the tube could break spreading this deadly poisonous all over everybody... They don't make them any more, but the birds contained carbatetrafuran, or carbaman, or something like that... That chemical is still used in the automotive industry to take gunk, like rust and oily gunk, off of car parts.
Years ago, and like 20 years ago, I read where there are 50,000 chemicals invented every year, and the EPA only has the $$ to test 10,000 of them on any given year.
I could't believe it when I read that as little as 25 years ago this stuff was still being thrown down our drains even poured out into the storm drainage systems. That's what is making some of the plumes so hard to locate.
The public needs to become much more aware of what is going on in some of these companies and pressure their legislators to refuse operating licenses for those who use negligent practices. You're right anyone using or storing chemicals should be required to have containment ponds and dikes lined with appropriate material to contain the contents of any tank within the dike so it can be safely recovered without contaminating the environment.
Yes, it was-- and much of it still is being poured down drains.
If the public only knew...
I've been battling this for over 30 years, trying to keep our drinking water clean...
Here is my company web page . I write a lot of stuff for homeowners and businesses. All of this is a part of our Wellhead Protection Plan. We won the national award for excellence in public water supply protection in 2010.
Didn't know you were in Louisville, just read some of your site and have it bookmarked now very nice to see someone willing to keep people informed.
Given what occurred in West Virginia recently, the discovery after-the-fact that there is no mandate to inspect chemical storage facilities, and, the runaround that continues there regarding whether or not water is safe to drink, shower in, etc., I trust no government agency to come clean.
It's frightening; and the priorities and politics all the way around have likely cost lives about which we are and are not aware.
Keep voting your race, religion, gender and special interests Boobus americana!
It's all a part of the plan... The wellhead protection plan, that is. Public Education is a big part of the plan.
I've got a lot to put on the site, but we haven't updated in a couple of years. More printer-friendly versions.
Here in KY, it's all about what is good for business... Forget a lot of the safety net-- most especially if it is anything to do with the coal business. There are several divisions in the DOW that do a very good job. But a lot of the other departments take precedence over them, and that's that.
That is usually the case one department oversees another to the point they can bury their mistakes so well that few find them.
It happens a lot in our state's government. I truly admire those that fight the good fight, while being ignored...
I guess for all, it is a matter of priorities. In WV, the priority is coal. Period. When you get down to it, that's all they have. It's the only big employer, the only form of manufacture/mining, and the only way the state has $$. So, the coal industry is given the green light to do whatever.
This last spill is just a prime example of the state looking the other way until it can no longer be ignored. Before anything was really done, the company immediately filed for bankruptcy. That sounded really 'funny' to me. Yet they promise to clean it up. With what? if you're bankrupt, I thought that meant you had no money...
The state regulates drinking water, and promulgates source protection. But, the utilities have no teeth in their source protection plan, and can't stop things from happening, what good is the source water protection plan? You can't blame the end user of a product that is flawed upstream, and can't be treated on a large scale with existing equipment. But they do.
It's very frustrating...
This last spill is just a prime example of the state looking the other way until it can no longer be ignored. Before anything was really done, the company immediately filed for bankruptcy. That sounded really 'funny' to me. Yet they promise to clean it up. With what? if you're bankrupt, I thought that meant you had no money...
Exactly Dowser, this is just another case of corporations getting away with destroying our drinking water. There is a large case in Alaska right now, where the corporation said they were going close the plant and walk away. Leaving the taxpayers with the bill to clean up the corporations mess. All politicians are to blame, they simply buy them off.
Wow...
I knew that this stuff was bad. That is why I hardly ever use the dry cleaner. But I had no idea that it once it gets into the eco system that it causes so much trouble. Ya gotta love the EPA. They are good for nothing.
Great find Larry!
Thanks Perrie, this just goes to show one how little we can depend on the EPA or government to do whats right for the public interest and safety.
The really amazing thing is BF that those Alternatives in many cases are less expensive once you take into account the environmental impact costs.