Dry Cleaners

When I was a child, my mother always used to take clothes to the dry cleaners: my dad’s dress shirts and sportcoats, my mom’s sweaters, and items like that. There was a neighborhood dry cleaner she always used. My parents were friends with the owners, and I was friends with his son at school. I always enjoyed going into the store because it always smelled so good. I loved the smell of the clothes in the bag and the drive home with the windows closed to keep it in the car. After I left and moved away, I heard the store closed because my friend’s father had gotten sick. Soon after, he passed away from cancer. When the family went to sell the property, they found out it was contaminated along with the surrounding half block and the water underneath the area. The site sat vacant for almost 20 years until it became too valuable to sit any longer, and it was finally cleaned up and redeveloped. The underground water, however, remains contaminated. 

 

The places that are hazardous to our health do not need to have smokestacks billowing black smoke. There are many everyday places where the chemicals that are routinely used have harmful effects and create hazardous situations. Sometimes, the people using them are aware of this, but other times, they are not. Chemical manufacturers do not always do their best to warn people about the hazards they could be exposed to. The dry cleaning industry is one significant example of this. Living near a dry cleaner or even a closed one may be causing you to breathe toxic fumes in your air and drink hazardous chemicals in your water. 

 

There are a few dirty secrets in the dry cleaning industry from the thousands of hazardous waste sites dry cleaning stores have created to the toxic chemicals used in cleaning our clothes. A close look really takes the clean out of dry cleaning. 

 

1. Toxic Waste Sites at Past and Present Dry Cleaner Locations

 

The dry cleaning industry created thousands of toxic waste sites. Some of these sites were so bad and caused so much pollution they were declared Superfund sites, the worst of the worst. An Arcadis Geraghty and Miller survey of insurance companies who have to pay for the cleanup of the pollution, estimated more than 70% of dry cleaning operations released toxic chemicals into the groundwater or soil. This number includes both former dry cleaning sites that are now closed and sites that are still operating. 

 

Most dry cleaner owners and their staff do try their best to follow the environmental regulations when dealing with the chemicals they use and the hazardous wastes they generate. Even then, accidental spills in the shop, leaks in storage tanks that hold chemicals, and problems with wastewater lines that lead to the septic or sewer allow gallons of hazardous chemicals to escape. At many of these shops, sloppy housekeeping is more normal than not, considering the volume of cleaning many of them handle. 

 

However, there are also operators who knowingly skirt the rules and regulations. It costs quite a bit of money to properly store and dispose of these dry cleaning chemicals after they have been used. A lot of these sites were contaminated by Perc, the favorite solvent of dry cleaners. Not only is Perc the main chemical used to clean our clothes, it is used as an ingredient in rubber coatings, an insulating fluid for electrical transformers, and a component in paint remover and shoe polish. Despite this cute nickname for perchloroethylene, Perc is a highly toxic chemical. Long-term and even short-term exposure to Perc can have many serious health effects, ranging from respiratory tract irritation, fluid build-up in the lungs, kidney dysfunction, and neurological disorders. Cancer has also been a disease seen in clusters at many of the highly contaminated sites across the country. 

 

Sometimes, operators decided to dispose of Perc in ways that they knew were wrong and in many cases illegal. Some dry cleaning shops directly piped their waste fluids outside to the rear of the property or into the septic tanks where it would flow into the septic field and surrounding soil. Others simply dumped it on the ground and let it soak in. Those who were lucky enough to be hooked into the city sewer system simply poured it down the drain. 

 

These contaminated sites have been created over decades. Many of these shop owners simply did what was allowed at that time, similar to the way disposal of hazardous wastes used to be handled up until the Love Canal disaster. But even after the new environmental laws regarding proper waste disposal, much of the old ways continued in the industry. Moreover, by then, sites were already contaminated. 

 

The big problem with Perc is it only takes a small amount to contaminate a whole lot of water. The waste at these sites often travels through the ground under the shop and into the groundwater below. Once it hits the water, it spreads out from there. The same thing happens when it soaks into the soil. As it saturates the soil under the shop, it starts to spread out, surrounding the contaminated area. Some known waste sites at cleaners have chemical plumes in the underground water stretching hundreds of feet away from the site. Contaminated soil travels the same way, and neighboring properties frequently find their soil needs to be removed along with the dry cleaning site when and if cleanup ever comes. 

 

There is plenty of research that shows the plume of contamination is able to travel underneath the ground and have vapors come up from underneath foundations nearby and get inside homes.

 

In Ann Arbor, Michigan, the soil and groundwater underneath a still-operating dry cleaners is polluted with toxic fluids used at the cleaners. The underground plume of contaminated groundwater is being monitored as it spreads. One home already needed to be equipped with an air purification system due to levels of toxins seeping in from the soil below. The contamination at this location has been known for over 30 years and still is not cleaned up. A coordinator with the city environmental department said, “It’s a site that we’ve known that low levels of this were getting into a neighboring building.” 

 

In Naperville, Illinois, a dry cleaner had a large spill of Perc that contaminated their property. Soil tests showed high levels of Perc had soaked into the surrounding areas. While the dry cleaners as well as the owner of the strip mall knew the site was contaminated, nobody told the nearby residents. For five years the contaminated soil had hazardous Perc fumes evaporating out. One neighbor only found out when an environmental consultant doing work on the spill tested the soil in her yard. Sure enough, the Perc showed up in her backyard in levels, higher than the safe level set by the state. She and her family had been exposed to toxic chemicals for five years while people who knew didn’t tell. 

 

The state of North Carolina has about 1,500 dry cleaning sites with contamination of some level needing to be cleaned up. Just in Durham, North Carolina, there were 18 sites showing up on the list as contaminated. 

 

2. Water Pollution

 

By far the biggest part of the toxic legacy left by dry cleaners is the incredible number of places with water pollution as a result. Cleaning water once it has been contaminated with Perc takes a very long time: 5, 10, even 20 years, depending on the extent and how far it has spread. In many cases the pollution was found before large amounts of people used the water for drinking and bathing. However, there were almost as many cases when it was not. Sad too are the cases where the authorities know the water was polluted but allowed people to continue to drink it and use it. Toxic dry cleaning solvents have been measured in the groundwater at hundreds, even thousands, times higher than state standards. 

 

In Wichita, Kansas, for six years, hundreds of people in a neighborhood used water contaminated from a nearby dry cleaner. For years, they drank it, cooked with it, and showered in it. Even though the city knew about the contamination the dry cleaners had caused in 2011, they did not do any testing in the nearby homes or any of the wells. It wasn’t until six years later the residents finally found out they had been drinking known contaminated water all that time.

 

Unfortunately, the city didn’t learn anything from this. In a different neighborhood, another dry cleaner also polluted nearby wells. This time it only took four years of using the polluted water before the people were told. 

 

In Crestwood, Illinois, a small suburban town outside Chicago, residents drank contaminated water for 22 years. The town found out about a large dry cleaner leak that had contaminated the public wells but continued to pump water to 11,000 residents for two decades. There were children who developed cancer and other unexplained diseases during the period the townspeople were slowly being poisoned by the town water supply.

 

In Billings, Montana, the water was contaminated with Perc from three dry cleaners. A plume of contamination stretched under the ground for four miles. The area affected was estimated at 800 acres. Since Perc can travel through the soil as well as water, the toxic fumes were able to seep into people’s homes through the basement and foundation. Residents are currently being told to seal up any small cracks or holes to prevent the fumes from getting in. To have this done by a professional runs about $2,000 for a typical home, an expense the homeowners themselves are responsible for. 

 

In Fox Lake, Illinois, two separate dry cleaning operations, one still running, has contaminated  two of the community wells serving water to the area residents. Test of the public water supply showed levels of the contaminants dichloromethane and benzene above safe drinking standards. Town officials say the treatment plant is able to remove the contaminate but are warning many people in the area who use well water to have their water tested for these chemicals and others. Levels of the dry cleaning chemical Perc have been found in the groundwater at one of the cleaners at levels close to 5,000 times federal standards. Another chemical, vinyl chloride, was also discovered at 1,500 times federal standards.

 

In Albuquerque, New Mexico, just north of downtown, dry cleaning fluids from a cleaners leaked into the aquifer and polluted the groundwater. The chemicals are moving in a plume and stretching into new areas. The contaminated aquifer is close to the surface with a high potential for widespread contamination of further water supplies. The plume has grown to over one and a half miles and continues to spread. The state first investigated the contamination over 20 years ago. Ten years ago the state asked the company to put together a clean up plan and submit it. So far nothing at all has been received. The company says they stopped the leak and are working to clean up their site but nothing is being done to address the contamination flowing under all the business and homes. Vapor intrusion into the buildings is a big concern according to state environmental officials and a plan needs to be put in place. The company’s lawyer who happens to be the son of a past senator says there is nothing else to do and the contamination will take care of itself. The head of New Mexico Environment Department Groundwater Bureau argues that the extent of the contamination is on par with some of the Superfund she has seen and needs to be addressed. All the foot dragging over the years delayed letting residents know what was underneath their homes even though toxic chemicals measured hundreds and thousands of times safe levels. Health studies have never been done either further delaying any movement. In the meantime, hundreds of people live over the toxic plume and wonder if they will get sick. 

 

3. Air Emissions from Operating Dry Cleaners

 

There are dry cleaners in almost every town and city. Many people would view having a cleaners next to their building or even on the ground floor of their apartment complex to be a positive thing. It may appear to be a terrific convenience to have a dry cleaner in the building or maybe a door or two up the street in the neighborhood. For those who happen to be living on the second floor above it, though, or up the street close by, every time they open their windows, they smell the cleaners and may be subjecting themselves to continual long-term small exposure to Perc. 

 

The vapors from Perc are able to pass through the walls and floors of dry cleaning operations into neighboring buildings. Once inside, the levels will continue to build up due to the lack of frequent air exchange. These airborne fumes put the families living in these residencies, especially children, at risk. Because children are smaller and breathe many more times than adults, they are especially vulnerable to accumulating the chemicals in their bodies.

 

One of the most common ways air emissions from cleaners are released is during the process of taking the Perc-soaked clothing from the washing equipment and moving it over into the dryers. The even more common way is the exhaust. The air coming from the equipment as it vents from inside the dryer is saturated with Perc vapors. Usually, the vent pipe from the dryer simply opens to an outside wall on the outside. All of the vapors simply blow out into the nearby area. 

 

Studies have shown the levels of dry cleaning chemicals to be many times the safe exposure amount coming from the cleaners. People who live over dry cleaners as well as nearby have reported health issues which are directly related to Perc exposure. A study at the University of Albany, New York showed a correlation between increases in kidney cancer and the density of dry cleaners near those residences. 

 

In New York City, 2.3 million people live within 650 feet of a dry cleaner. New York City, health officials have determined there is an exposure risk high enough to be concerned. Higher levels of Perc are in the air everyone breathes simply because the chemical is widely used. However, even higher levels of Perc are found in the air near dry cleaners. The health department went on to say, “Elevated air levels of Perc have been found in residential buildings with dry-cleaning shops in New York City.” 

 

Additional studies have shown the risk from this is so high, new laws are being put in place restricting dry cleaners from being within a certain distance from an apartment building or other residential places. The industry is being required to eliminate changing machines and will also be required by the EPA to install some type of device on the exhaust vents to reduce Perc emissions to the outside. How successful either of these requirements will be is yet to be seen. Hopefully, currently operating dry cleaners will not be exempted from the new laws, which is sadly common with new environmental regulations.

 

4. Toxic Chemical Residue in Household Dry Cleaning

 

The health risks from your dry cleaning in your home may not come close to the risks of the industry as a whole, but it is information that needs to be shared. 

 

Despite its name, dry cleaning is anything but a dry process. It involves soaking our clothes in Perc to clean them, and then removing as much of it as possible before the drying process. The majority of traditional cleaners use this method that has been around for many decades, which means they use this undiluted, toxic chemical directly on our clothes, saturating them. 

 

Dry cleaned clothes are appealing. Many people love the smell and how crisply pressed and new-looking they are in their plastic bags. That smell is the residual dry cleaning chemicals still in the clothes. Perc is a colorless, non-flammable liquid with a sweet, ether-like smell. Perhaps that is why we like the odor of freshly dry cleaned clothes. The chemicals in Perc sometimes give our brains a little rush of pleasure when we inhale. The Perc residue remains in our clothes long after the cleaner wraps them in plastic. Most people think nothing of this and leave their clothes wrapped in its plastic in their closet until pulled off to wear.

 

To limit your exposure, it is highly suggested you remove the plastic when you get the clothes home and hang them in a well-ventilated area for a day until the remaining Perc evaporates. If you bring thick and heavy items to the dry cleaners, such as drapes, heavy blankets, and winter coats, allow them to air outdoors, if possible, for a day or two.

 

Be very careful and cautious with items such as blankets and pillows, which you will be putting your head on and breathing the fumes from as you spend hours lying underneath.

 

In summation, people are susceptible to the effects of Perc whether it is through inhalation such as breathing fumes continuously from a nearby dry cleaner or vapors in their houses from fumes emitted out of contaminated soil. Perc in household water evaporates out when residents shower or bathe, and they later inhale these vapors. Consuming Perc in contaminated water has caused harm to thousands of people. 

 

Dry cleaners do represent a serious threat to our environment and health. In many cases the damage has already been done and can’t be undone. Thousands of people are living with contaminated water as a result. The unfortunate part is many of those are not aware they are, either because of neglectful government officials or as yet undiscovered contamination. 

 

Every state has a list of known contaminated dry cleaner sites. At some, the toxic contaminants have been removed, and the site is no longer a threat. Many, though, still wait to be addressed. Usually, a lack of money is holding back full cleanup. To cut corners and move on, sometimes the state decides placing an asphalt cover over the site and a couple of monitoring wells around the perimeter is a solution, but that falls far short of a real cleanup. Underground pollution can still migrate off the site, and sometimes, the wells do miss a location while the poisons move towards and under the adjacent properties. It is even worse if there are homes with private wells nearby. Once Perc and other chemicals infiltrate the aquifer, it is very difficult and a long process to get the chemical fully out. Many times, it can’t be done, and they settle for a reduction in the level of contamination. Public water supplies that have major wells have needed to shut them down and find other places to draw safe water for their customers once they too find their wells contaminated.

 

Serious caution needs to be used if you live or plan to live anywhere close to an old dry cleaner or a currently running one. Assurances from the shop owner or real estate agent mean nothing. State environmental officials would be the best source of knowledge on the where and what may be contaminated.