Health risk assessment of PCE emissions from dry cleaning activities in France

Laure Delery (1) , André Cicolella (1)

1 INERIS - Institut National de l'Environnement Industriel et des Risques

Tetrachloroethylene (PCE) is a solvent used mostly in the dry-cleaning and metal degreasing industries in Europe. Neurological and renal effects are the main non-cancer human health effects caused by chronic inhalation exposure of PCE. PCE is suspected to be probably carcinogenic to humans by IARC. During dry-cleaning processes, people are likely to be exposed to the chemical in a variety of ways because PCE emissions are not currently regulated in France. Exposed persons include workers, residents living in co-location with dry-cleaning establishments and the general population. This paper presents a literature review assimilating human exposure data to assess public health risk from dry-cleaning emissions. At the average indoor air level of 2 mg/m3 , there is concern for health risk to co-located residents living above dry cleaning establishments. A personal exposure of 15 ug/m3 of PCE should not cause adverse effects on the health of normal population.

Keywords: PCE; DRY CLEANING; RISK ASSESSMENT; PUBLIC HEALTH.; PUBLIC HEALTH

Domains: Environmental Sciences

Laure Delery, André Cicolella. Health risk assessment of PCE emissions from dry cleaning activities in France. 9. International Conference on Indoor Air Quality and Climate, Jun 2002, Monterey, United States. ⟨ineris-00972369⟩