Okay, so it will probably come as no surprise to those readers that know anything about perc (also known as PCE, short for perchloroethylene, another name for tetrachloroethylene – whew!) that, when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released it’s final health assessment for the chemical this week, EPA essentially concluded “yep, it’s still bad stuff.”  More specifically (and much more scientifically), the assessment characterized it as a “likely human carcinogen.”  In addition, the assessment cited non-cancer long-term health effects including harm to the nervous system, kidney, liver, immune and hematologic systems. 

Perc is best known for being the chemical solvent widely used in the dry-cleaning industry.  Discharges of perc (mainly from dry-cleaning facilities) have contributed to contamination at many properties.  According to EPA, hundreds of Superfund sites in the country have perc as a contaminant. 

So why should you care about this assessment that seemed to tell us something we pretty much already knew?  Well, dear readers, I will tell you.  Although the health effects were known, the specific toxicity values that are presented in the assessment will likely affect the current cleanup levels for perc-impacted soil and groundwater in some states, making remediation potentially more expensive than it would previously have been.  (However, certain states, including California, have a more stringent standard for perc, therefore that standard will be the cleanup goal.)

Please see full article below for more information.