Dry-cleaning agent threat played down
By Sun Xiaohua (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-11-15 06:13

Experts are urging people not get in a lather over reports of dry-cleaners using cancer causing chemicals.

"Cancer caused by toxic materials depends on many factors, such as the intensity and length of contact," said Wei Lijun, director of the Chinese Academy of Safety Science and Technology.

The main solvent accused of being a threat to health is tetrachloroethylene.

"Although a volatile material, the residue left on clothes is unlikely to lead to cancer," Wei said.

Recently, domestic media reported that most dry-cleaners in Beijing and Guangdong and Hunan provinces used tetrachloroethylene.

In Guangdong, more than 60 per cent of dry-cleaners were found to be using the chemical.

Effective at removing dirt from clothes, tetrachloroethylene is easily absorbed into fabric which then releases the residue when dry.

A toxic material, the solvent pollutes the environment and may cause liver damage, or even cancer.

The threat is mainly to laundry employees who have long-term exposure to the chemical, rather than to customers whose clothes are cleaned using it, reports said.

According reports, most well known dry-cleaners, including Fornet, Rongchang and Ilsa, all use the cleansing agent.

"At the moment we are using both the tetrachloroethylene agent and another cleansing agent made from petroleum," said Yan Hong, who is in charge of the franchise business of the Rongchang-Ilsa Laundry Group. The group has at least 100 chain shops in Beijing.

The petroleum-based cleansing agent is extremely flammable and poses a fire risk, although it is thought not to pose a direct threat to health.

"Our cleansing agents are all imported from Italy, and are environmentally friendly," Yan said. "Our machines are completely sealed and are fitted with equipment to recycle the tetrachloroethylene."

"For a long time, tetrachloroethylene has been regarded as the safest cleansing agent," Hu Yadong, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, told a Beijing-based newspaper.

"But increasingly we are becoming aware that many materials, previously regarded as harmless, actually pose a threat to health. Further research is needed."

Experts recommend people not to send their underwear to be dry-cleaned, because, as well as possibly causing cancer, tetrachloroethylene can make sensitive skin dry and itchy.

(China Daily 11/15/2005 page3)