PCE threatens Colorado workers and residents

Cancer-causing chemical contaminates Colorado soil, water and homes

Spills releasing PCE, the cancer-causing chemical used in dry cleaning and metal degreasing, have produced at least 86 underground plumes across Colorado that are poisoning soil and water and fouling air inside buildings.

The dry cleaning chemical PCE has been linked to cancer
and other health effects.

Cleaning up this chemical is a nightmare — a lesson in the limits of repairing environmental harm. The best that Colorado health enforcers and responsible parties have been able to do is keep the PCE they know about from reaching people.

But based on a review of Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment case files, people likely have been exposed.

For years, PCE (perchloroethylene or perc) penetrated homes and a church in Denver's Cole neighborhood, forcing installation of ventilators. It contaminated municipal drinking water wells near Colorado Springs. It reached rooms where toddlers play at an Aurora day care. And PCE is spreading under a central Denver Safeway at levels far exceeding health standards.

The required cleanups drag out for decades because of costs. But even if funds were sufficient, PCE is proving so pernicious — able to eat through concrete, staying volatile decades after spills — that experts increasingly question whether full cleanup to meet health standards is feasible.

Probable carcinogen

Federal authorities long have recognized sharp, sweet-sour-smelling PCE among the most dangerous chemicals contaminating U.S. cities.

A 2012 Environmental Protection Agency reassessment concluded that PCE is a probable carcinogen that also attacks nervous systems.

While occasionally inhaling PCE on dry-cleaned clothes isn't considered harmful, regular exposure is risky enough that the EPA has ordered a phase-out of dry cleaners using PCE in residential buildings by 2020.

Yet PCE remains legal. EPA data show there are 28,000 dry cleaners using it nationwide. About 350 cleaners use it in Colorado.

Dry cleaners favor PCE over other chemicals. The same penetrating properties that make it a nightmare when spilled also make it a wondrous obliterator of blotches on dresses and suits.

Identifying risks


Four to 18 new plumes due to PCE spills in Colorado are identified each year. The list has been growing. Cleanups last for years, and CDPHE could not say how many have been completed.

State law requires intervention when PCE contaminates groundwater at concentrations exceeding 17 parts per billion. In 2010, state water commissioners relaxed that standard from the EPA drinking-water standard of 5 ppb.

For PCE vapors in air, Colorado's limit is 41 micrograms per cubic meter in homes and 175 at work sites. The home limit was relaxed in 2012 from 4 micrograms .

An estimated 1,000 former dry-cleaner sites exist around Colorado — the majority not tested for PCE contamination.

Nationwide, EPA officials track an estimated 3,800 toxic chemical cleanups, many involving PCE. The Superfund list of major environmental disasters includes at least 50 sites where PCE and related chemicals are present.

These include PCE plume spreading from dry-cleaning facilities in a Veterans Affairs hospital in Salt Lake City that has contaminated springs, aquifers and creeks, forcing city officials to shut down a municipal well.

PCE likely will be found at 50 to 70 percent of the untested dry-cleaner sites in Colorado, said Denver lawyer Kemper Will, a former EPA employee who has represented industry, property owners and dry cleaners in numerous cases.

PCE contamination of indoor air is a serious concern, and businesses often aren't as careful handling chemicals as they should be, Will said. But it's not feasible to conduct full cleanups to meet today's highly protective health standards. "We cannot afford, as a nation, to purify all old mistakes."

Will lobbied for the policy giving state officials greater flexibility in deciding how much cleanup must be done. Reducing PCE levels in groundwater to 17 ppb isn't always necessary, he said. A smarter approach would focus on indoor air.

"I want to apply sound, rational judgment," he said.

This article has been edited for length. 

Source: Denver Post

Vapor intrusion of PCE fumes can become a health hazard. Proper ventilation and air cleaning measures can help minimize the risks. Electrocorp offers commercial and industrial air cleaners that can remove toxic chemicals (including PCE vapors) and other contaminants from the air. See a list of current and former clients. Call 1-866-667-0297 or contact Electrocorp for more information.

Chemical exposure at work may be linked to health problems: IBM study

Massive study tracked thousands of
IBM workers and their health.

While former workers at IBM in Endicott show lower mortality rates than the general population, exposure to certain chemicals could be related to health problems, according to a recent government statistical analysis.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health announced the findings of a massive, five-year study of the health of 34,494 workers who were employed at IBM’s Endicott facility between 1969 and 2001.

Among the study’s key findings:

• The total number of deaths from all causes, and the total number of deaths from cancer, were lower among the former workers than what would be expected from the general population. Just over 17 percent of the sampled workers — a total of 5,966 — had died through 2009. 

• Deaths from specific types of cancer including non-Hodgkin lymphoma, mesothelioma, pleural cancer, rectal cancer and testicular cancer were more frequent in some groups than would be expected from the general population. 

• “A positive, statistically significant relation” was observed between exposure to tetrachloroethylene, or PCE, and nervous system diseases. Exposure scores for trichloroethylene, or TCE, were positively statistically correlated with a certain type of leukemia.

Like most statistical studies related to the health of a group, the data do not show that exposure caused any disease found in that group.

Rather, the statistics can show only stronger relationships or correlation in one group compared to what might be found in the population as a whole.

“We’re definitely not in a position to say anything is causal,” NIOSH research epidemiologist Sharon Silver said.

TCE, an industrial solvent, was used at the IBM facility beginning in the mid-1960s as part of the printed circuit board manufacturing process and discontinued by 1985.

Although few potential ties between exposure and health outcomes were observed in the local group of IBM workers studied, the report concludes that “risks from occupational exposures cannot be ruled out due to data limitations and the relative youth of the cohort.”

The study has been long-anticipated by Endicott residents, who pushed for it for years before $3.1 million in federal funding was appropriated for the effort.

Limitations with the data

Yet the authors of the report are the first to admit that constraints in the available data mean nothing conclusive can be said about the effects of exposure to chemicals at IBM.

“There are a number of limitations with the data,” said Silver, the lead author. “We don’t have measurements on who was exposed to what, when.”

Researchers began working on the study in spring 2009, using electronic IBM human resources records to reconstruct work histories of employees and conduct an in-depth analysis of industrial hygiene records showing where chemicals were used.

But the study could not take into account possible chemical exposures at other jobs, and lifestyle factors like smoking. And the workers in the sample are relatively young, meaning some potential adverse health effects may have not yet developed.

IBM spokesman Todd Martin said the study’s finding that IBM workers had a lower mortality rate than the general population was among the key points. He emphasized that the findings regarding PCE and TCE represented a statistical correlation, not an proven causal relationship.

“Health, safety and wellness of IBM employees is, and has always been, the top priority for IBM, and it is integrated into every aspect of our operations,” he said.

NIOSH, the federal agency that conducts research and makes recommendations for preventing work-related injuries, illnesses and deaths, conducted the study at the request of the state Department of Health and other stakeholders.

This article has been edited for length. 
Source: Press Connects

Chemical exposure at work may be connected to ill health. All workers and employers should follow appropriate protective measures, including PPE, adequate ventilation and air purification. Electrocorp has designed air cleaners for the removal of airborne chemicals, gases, vapors, fumes, particles, odors and more. The air purifiers come equipped with a large granular activated carbon filter and a HEPA filter. For more information or a free consultation, contact Electrocorp today.

Dry cleaning industry looking for new solvents

Wearing dry cleaned clothes can expose
you to a cancer-causing chemical, perc.

The dry cleaning industry is in the process of changing.

As the widely used cleaning agent perchloroethylene, or perc, is being phased out by 2020, most dry cleaners have to find a new solvent.

The makers of cleaning agents are scrambling to find replacement cleaners for an industry that hasn’t changed much in decades. It is estimated that almost 80% of dry cleaners rely on perc to clean the clothes, and they have done so since the 1930s.

Perc is good at dissolving oil-based stains, much like turpentine, benzene, kerosene and gasoline (incidentally, all bad for your health if inhaled). Switching to a new cleaner can be costly, and many dry cleaners are worried that the new cleaning agent won’t work as well.

Most dry-cleaning businesses are independently owned and there are more than 24,000 dry cleaning businesses in the US alone.


What is perc (PCE)?

Perchloroethylene, also known as tetrachloroethylene, is a colorless liquid widely used for dry cleaning of fabrics. The industrial chemical is sometimes called "dry-cleaning fluid." It has a sweet odor detectable by most people and it can cause a reaction in people who are chemically sensitive.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer has classified tetrachloroethene as a Group 2A carcinogen, which means that the cleaning chemical is probably carcinogenic to humans. It has been estimated that about 85% of tetrachloroethylene is released into the atmosphere.

Vapors that escape from poorly maintained or faulty dry cleaning machines can seep through walls and into adjacent apartments or businesses.

PCE is also one of the more difficult contaminants to deal with if it gets into water through spills or leaks because it sinks to the bottom of water supplies.

Clients bringing home dry-cleaned clothes can be exposed to perc when it is released by the fabric (one tip is to air out dry-cleaned clothes in a different room or the garage before hanging them up in the closet).


Industrial-strength air cleaners a boon for small businesses

RSU Series: Powerful air cleaners
for the removal of chemicals and more.

Whenever industrial chemicals become airborne, they can become a health hazard to workers and others who are exposed to them.

Until PCE-using dry cleaning machines can be phased out, small and medium businesses can help protect themselves and their surroundings simply by using a cost-effective and powerful air purification system.

Electrocorp’s industrial air cleaners feature the deepest beds of activated carbon and the largest adsorbent surfaces on the market to remove chemicals, gases and odors from the air, and they also feature HEPA and pre-filters for superior particle control.

If you are concerned about the indoor air quality in your business or neighborhood, contact Electrocorp today: 1-866-667-0297. Always consult a chemical or environmental expert when dealing with hazardous substances.
 
See also:

• Jersey's dry cleaning industry gets health boost
• Poor IAQ linked to half of illnesses worldwide