Workers, Customers, Owners and Neighbors Left Hung Out to Dry by Air Board Proposal That Fails to Provide Protection from Toxic Dry Cleaning Chemical

Press Release

May 18 , 2006

Contact: Annette Kondo

213-630-1192 x. 103
818-599-4911 (cell)
Annette@coalitionforcleanair.org

Workers, Customers, Owners and Neighbors Left Hung Out to Dry by Air Board Proposal That Fails to Provide Protection from Toxic Dry Cleaning Chemical
En español

LOS ANGELES–The California Air Resources board (CARB) will vote one week from today on a proposal that keeps Californians at risk by allowing dry cleaners to use a known carcinogen indefinitely.

Most dry cleaners in California use perchloroethylene, also known as “perc.” California Proposition 65 has classified perc as a chemical known to cause cancer. Perc can also cause: cracking or irritation of the skin; burns; headaches; dizziness; nausea; fainting; coughing; fluid buildup in the lungs; and damage to the central nervous system, kidneys, liver and reproductive system.

According to Environmental Protection Agency data, perc is one of the top 10 most toxic air contaminants in California. Statewide, the dry cleaning industry emits about 3 million pounds of perc per year into the air. It is also estimated that perc has contaminated one in 10 public drinking wells in the state.

Perc poses an unacceptable health risk to dry cleaners, their employees, their customers, and our neighborhoods. The use of this hazardous chemical is also an environmental justice issue as most dry cleaners are small business owners and employees are predominately people of color.

“Dry cleaners in low income neighborhoods are the last to modernize, further exposing those communities to the threats of perc in their drinking water sources,” said Conner Everts, Executive Director of the Southern California Watershed Alliance. “That’s why we need stronger regulations.”

To help cleaners switch to safer alternatives, state legislation, Assembly Bill 998 (authored by state Sen. Alan Lowenthal, D-Long Beach), was signed into law in January 2003.
The AB 998 program directed the Air Board to:

Apply a fee on the perc used in dry cleaning
Use some of the funds to establish a demonstration program of non-toxic, non-smog forming alternatives, and,
Use the additional funds for grants to cleaners which are making the transition to these safer alternatives.

An alternative garment care system – professional wet cleaning – is already available and being used successfully in California. Wet cleaners do not use toxic chemicals, relieving small businesses of the burden of hazardous chemical regulations, permits, fees, and disposal challenges. Most importantly, owners, workers, customers and neighbors are not exposed to perc.

But CARB has barely started the AB 998 program. It has not: fully collected the fees, implemented a single demonstration, and it has made only 14 grants in a state with almost 5,000 dry cleaners, most of which use perc.

The CARB will vote on its plan on May 25, but it does not protect Californians from the dangers of perc. One example is the Air Board’s proposal to prohibit new perc machines and phase out existing perc machines only in co-residential facilities.

A co-residential facility has a dry cleaner in one part of the building with residential areas in other parts of the same structure. But many dry cleaners are in mini-malls or small stand-alone shops. The ARB proposal allows the continued use of this dangerous chemical indefinitely at those locations, posing a risk to all neighborhoods.

“The state Air Resources Board acknowledges that there are cost-effective non-toxic, non-smog forming alternatives to perc,” said Luis Cabrales, Coalition for Clean Air’s Campaign and Outreach Associate. “We urge the board to replace the current proposal with an expeditious phase-out of perc dry cleaning.”

More than 25 labor, community, health and environmental groups signed a May 10 letter to CARB opposing its proposal. The broad coalition of groups include: the Coalition for Clean Air, California Communities Against Toxics, Southern California Watershed Alliance, Southern California Coalition for Occupational Safety & Health (SoCalCOSH), American Lung Association of California, Association of Irritated Residents, Sweatshop Watch, Breast Cancer Fund, Sierra Club and the Natural Resources Defense Council, among many others

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For more than 35 years, the non-profit Coalition for Clean Air has worked to restore clean air to California. With offices in Sacramento, Los Angeles and Fresno, it is focused on reducing pollution, protecting natural resources and strengthening the California environmental community.

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