the objective of this study was to evaluate the presence of perchloroethylene (pce) and trichloroethylene (tce) in dry cleaning shops in tehran, iran. pce and tce are two most prevalent solvents in dry-leaning shops. air and effluent samples were collected in october to december 2011 from 10 dry-cleaning shops. analyses were performed by head-space gas chromatography technique. gas chromatograp...

The dry cleaning industry is moving away from using perchloroethylene. Occupational exposures to two alternative dry cleaning solvents, butylal and high-flashpoint hydrocarbons, have not been well characterized. We evaluated four dry cleaning shops that used these alternative solvents. The shops were staffed by Korean- and Cantonese-speaking owners, and Korean-, Cantonese-, and Spanish-speaking...

H istorical exposure assessment for epidemiological studies has always been a great challenge for occupational hygienists and exposure assessors. In the paper by Johansen and colleagues published in this issue of the journal, the authors describe what they call ‘‘history science methods’’ for exposure assessment for occupational health studies. The paper reads likes a detective story, with this...

U.S. studies have reported an increased risk of esophageal and some other cancers in dry cleaners exposed to tetrachloroethylene. We investigated whether the U.S. findings could be reproduced in the Nordic countries using a series of case-control studies nested in cohorts of laundry and dry-cleaning workers identified from the 1970 censuses in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Finland. Dry-cleaning ...

Perchloroethylene, the most widely used solvent in dry cleaning, is toxic to the liver, kidneys and central nervous system and may be a human carcinogen. An exposure assessment was carried out in 69 dry-cleaning shops using perchloroethylene in Tehran city, Iran. The 8-h time weighted average (TWA) breathing zone air samples and end-exhaled air samples were obtained from 179 workers who worked ...

OBJECTIVES To investigate the association between spontaneous abortion and work within dry cleaning units in the United Kingdom where the solvent perchloroethylene is used. METHODS A retrospective occupational study of reproductive outcome in 7305 women aged 16 and 45 years, who were currently or previously employed in dry cleaning or laundry units in the United Kingdom. Data on workplace exp...

It has been more than a century since dry cleaning had its origin in Paris, France. Since that time, the dry cleaning process, whereby garments are cleaned in a nonaqueous solvent, has witnessed many refinements. Gasoline and carbon tetrachloride have been replaced as dry cleaning fluids by perchloroethylene (perc, and also known as tetrachloroethylene), Stoddard solvent (a petroleum distillate...

OBJECTIVES Tetrachloroethylene is the dominant solvent used in dry cleaning worldwide and many workers are potentially exposed. We report here on results of 1296 measurements of tetrachloroethylene undertaken in Nordic dry cleaning shops 1947-2001. METHODS We searched documents and files in the Nordic institutes of occupational health for air measurements of tetrachloroethylene. Repeated meas...