The Viability of Professional Wet Cleaning as a Pollution Prevention Alternative to Perchloroethylene Dry Cleaning

The vast majority of dry cleaners worldwide use the toxic chemical perchloroethylene (PCE), which is associated with a number of adverse health and environmental impacts. Professional wet cleaning was developed as a nontoxic alternative to PCE dry cleaning but has not been widely adopted as substitu...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association (1995) 2007-02, Vol.57 (2), p.172-178
Main Authors: Sinsheimer, Peter, Grout, Cyrus, Namkoong, Angela, Gottlieb, Robert, Latif, Abid
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Air Pollutants, Occupational - analysis
Air pollution
Air Pollution - prevention & control
Algorithms
Alternatives
Applied sciences
Carbon dioxide
Clean Air Act-US
Cleaning
Compliance
Costs and Cost Analysis
Customer services
Dry cleaners
Dry cleaning
Environmental aspects
Environmental impact
Exact sciences and technology
Hazardous air pollutants
Health aspects
Health hazards
Laundering - economics
Occupational safety
Perchloroethylene
Pollution
Prevention
Respiratory diseases
Solvents
Technological change
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Summary:The vast majority of dry cleaners worldwide use the toxic chemical perchloroethylene (PCE), which is associated with a number of adverse health and environmental impacts. Professional wet cleaning was developed as a nontoxic alternative to PCE dry cleaning but has not been widely adopted as substitute technology. In the greater Los Angeles, CA, region, a demonstration project was set up to showcase this technology and evaluate its commercial viability by converting seven cleaners from PCE dry cleaning to professional wet cleaning. The demonstration site cleaners who switched to professional wet cleaning were able to maintain their level of service and customer base while lowering operating costs. The cleaners were able to transition to professional wet cleaning without a great degree of difficulty and expressed a high level of satisfaction with professional wet cleaning. Crucial to this success was the existence of the demonstration project, which helped to develop a supporting infrastructure for professional wet cleaning that had otherwise been lacking in the garment care industry.
ISSN:1096-2247
2162-2906
DOI:10.1080/10473289.2007.10465320