The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) likely will be tightening standards for a solvent widely used in the dry cleaning industry following the release Friday of a final agency assessment that characterizes PERC as a
“likely human carcinogen.”
The assessment provides estimates for both
cancer and non-cancer effects associated with exposure to Perchloroethlene (PERC) over a
lifetime.
While the EPA
said it does not believe that wearing clothes dry cleaned with PERC will result in
exposures which pose a risk of concern, the agency already is requiring that use of the solvent be phased-out dry cleaners in residential buildings by
December 21, 2020.
The solvent is used by about 85% of U.S. dry cleaners. It also is used as a metal
degreaser and in the production of many other chemicals.
Areas where the assessment could lead to tighter regulation include:
- Establishing
cleanup levels at the hundreds of Superfund sites where PERC is a
contaminant
- Revising
EPA’s Maximum Contaminant Level for perc as part of the carcinogenic volatile organic
compounds group in drinking water, as described in the agency’s
drinking water strategy
- Evaluating whether to propose additional
limits on the emissions of PERC into the atmosphere, since PERC is
considered a hazardous air pollutant under the Clean Air Act
National Academy of Sciences backs EPA findings
In 2008, the EPA suggested that PERC be
classified as a "likely human carcinogen." Moreover, it found that PERC's
most dangerous noncancer toxicity is brain and nervous system damage -- and set
safe exposure levels well below levels that cause such damage.
But rather than finalize the ruling, which was criticized by chemical industry manufacturers, the EPA asked the respected National
Academy of Sciences to review it's PERC risk analysis and to tell the EPA if
it's system for analyzing chemical risk was correct.
Now the expert panel appointed by the National Academy of Sciences says
the EPA was basically correct. The panel agreed that:
- PERC is a "likely human carcinogen." This means that while there's no
definitive proof that the chemical causes cancer in humans, there's strong
evidence it does -- and there's proof that the chemical causes various cancers
in animals.
- PERC's most dangerous non-cancer effect is nerve and brain damage. Safe
exposure levels for drinking water and air quality should be set well above
levels that can cause such damage.
- The EPA's system for evaluating chemical risk is basically sound, although
procedures for evaluating the strength of relevant studies need to be
strengthened.
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Related:
EPA Releases Final Health Assessment for Tetrachloroethylene
National Academy of Sciences Panel Agrees With EPA Analysis of the Risks of PERC
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Labels: cancer, degreaser, dry cleaning, environment, EPA, National Academy of Sciences, PERC, Perchloroethlene, solvent