The Erin Brockovich of dry cleaning

By Claire Wright

Max Hoffman’s mission to eradicate PERC in the dry cleaning industry

Despite being banned in France and in multiple states across the US, perchlorethylene, known as ‘PERC’, is still used at most dry cleaners across New Zealand. In the European countries where PERC is still used, there are stringent regulations controlling its use. Germany, the Netherlands and Scandinavian countries recognise its toxicity and have strict regulations and sector agreements that were adopted 15 to 25 years ago, specifically focusing on the environment, with Belgium currently still undertaking an evaluation. The US Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) has banned all PERC machines from use in residential buildings and has issued a strong recommendation to ban PERC from being used in its entirety. Unfortunately, New Zealand is still behind the rest, with no ban and only minimal regulation.

What is PERC, anyway? PERC is a liquid solvent used by drycleaners to dissolve stains on garments – while it’s highly effective at getting marks and grease out of your clothes, it’s also highly effective at giving you cancer. According to the US EPA, there are dozens of acute and non-acute effects that can happen with long term exposure to PERC, including: • Several types of cancer, specifically bladder cancer, non-Hodgkin lymphoma and multiple myeloma – there is also limited evidence to suggest associations with oesophageal, kidney, cervical and breast cancer • Menstrual disorders, altered sperm structure and reduced fertility • Neurological effects, including headaches, impairments in cognitive and motor function, as well as ‘colour vision decrements’. Even soil contaminated by PERC has been shown to have severely negative flow-on effects on nearby water sources and cause harm. New Zealand’s own Worksafe even notes that PERC is a hazardous substance. On Worksafe’s industry guidance page for dry cleaning, it states, “PERC is both toxic and ecotoxic and can cause both immediate and chronic effects from over-exposure. Dry cleaners must avoid inhaling solvent vapour, contact with the skin and eyes, or ingesting the solvent”. The man leading the charge against PERC in New Zealand is Eastern Drycleaners owner and manager, Max Hoffman. From nose bleeds to headaches to inflamed skin disorders, Max has seen first hand for himself what PERC does to workers and customers in the industry – and he doesn’t hold a bar of it. “Employees at dry cleaners are not told by the owners that PERC is dangerous – and neither are the customers.”

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“Owners don’t like to talk about how toxic PERC is because it is so expensive for them to get rid of the old PERC machines and buy an all new hydrocarbon machine. They are more specialised, like a high-performance sports car, so on top of the initial cost to purchase, they are much more costly to run and repair. The dangers of PERC is much more pervasive than one might think. Max says, “I think about all of the school uniforms being dunked in that toxic stuff. “Parents just don’t know because dry cleaners don’t tell them – and their children are wearing those uniforms every day. “And I think about people who work in businesses next to dry cleaners who use PERC, especially ones that sell or prepare food like cafes and supermarkets. “A lot of them just don’t know they are constantly at risk of exposing their staff and customers to PERC, but the dry cleaner next door knows and they are either denying it or they are just not saying anything. “PERC vapour is like second hand smoke, but worse. You know how clothes reek of chemicals when they first come back from the dry cleaner? That’s PERC. To me, it smells like petrol. Clothes that come back from a PERC free drycleaner smell clean and fresh, not like gasoline.” “PERC machines are like old diesel engines; they just go forever so dry cleaners are not

How to get to find out if your dry cleaner is using PERC – Look for the stamp

• When you go to a drycleaner, look for the

‘PERC FREE’ stamp. • Ask, “Do you use PERC anywhere in your factory at all? If their answer isn't unequivocally ‘No’ then you have your answer. • If you drop your clothes off at an agent for a dry cleaner, like your local pharmacy, look for the ‘PERC Free’ stamp on the footpath sign.

motivated to throw them out. And don’t get me wrong, I love old diesel engines – I just don’t want to wash my clothes in one,” Max says. For Eastern Drycleaners, though, there is no choice about it. “No amount of profit is worth exposing my employees, my customers, my neighbours, myself or the environment to the dangers of PERC. If you Google ‘the dangers of using PERC’, you’ll see I’m not some eco-warrior going on and on. The stuff is just awful.” As soon as Eastern Drycleaners learned about the dangers of PERC, they completely transitioned away from the toxic solvent. They got rid of all of the old PERC machines and upgraded their factory to be fitted out with the latest 6th Generation German Bowe Black Forest M30 dry cleaning machines that are specially designed to run on hydrocarbons and modified alcohol cleaning solutions. "Any drycleaner who uses PERC anywhere in their factory at all and claims to be environmentally responsible is purposefully misleading their customers. Even worse, if that dry cleaner does not inform their customers that they could be exposed to the toxic effects of PERC then what they are doing is just wrong. There is no ethical justification to that - it is motivated by profit, pure and simple." In addition to hydrocarbon, Eastern Drycleaners now also offers solvent free dry cleaning as well, which uses highly specialised soaps. Both methods have advantages. “Our aim at Eastern Drycleaners is to achieve the optimum result while being as gentle on the fabric as possible. “The cleaning processes we use are considered internationally to be the gold standard of dry cleaning. Not only do they clean better, they are much gentler on fabrics, they reduce colour fading, they leave clothes with a better finish, they smell fantastic – and they are safe for dry cleaning employees, the customers and the environment,” Max says. Keep New Zealand Beautiful chairwoman, Alexandra Davids says, “In 2019 Eastern Drycleaners was one of three businesses in the entire nation to be nominated for Most Sustainable Business. “We acknowledge businesses who go above and beyond what the law requires to do their part to Keep New Zealand Beautiful. I’ve done my own research and this PERC stuff is nasty. Good on Eastern for bringing this to our attention because New Zealanders have the right to be informed.”