“Green” Cleaners to Be Leery Of
April 10, 2008 by Peggy
You know about the problems with traditional dry cleaning and green options, but do you know about methods that are applauded as green that aren’t so green?
Some “green” dry cleaning methods to question:
•Hydrocarbon cleaners (use petroleum-based solvent)
•GreenEarth Cleaning (use silicone-based solvent, D-5) It may seem innocent enough, but there have been mixed conclusions on the health safety of this process. Also, chlorine is required to produce D-5.
While the dry cleaning methods above may be less toxic than perc, they have qualities (use of chlorine and petroleum) that are not good for the environment.
Ask your cleaner what process they use, and search for a true green cleaner.
Image via flickr.
A little knowledge is a terrible thing. GreenEarth (silicone) has been well vetted through years of use as a base ingredient in many personal care cosmetics – that was how it was discovered, in a cosmetics factory. One negative study showed a possible connection with uterine tumors in rats but a further, more detailed study showed this mechanism is not present in humans and of no hazard to humans. In other words, pump enough foreign chemicals into a living body and it will react. The concentrations used in that study were also extremely high and beyond any possible occurrence in reality.
CO2 cleaning uses VOC’s in the detergents it must have in order to clean since CO2 has no de-greasing ability on its own. Of all the alternative methods silicone is the safest and best cleaning process. I thoroughly researched each before choosing GreenEarth. The amount of chlorine produced to make GreenEarth is far less than the chlorine made simply for retail sales.
HOWEVER, if you want a truly green process, opt for Wet Cleaning! It works just as well as dry cleaning and is actually less expensive. People simply have a problem with putting their $3,000 Armani suit or $2,500 Vera Wang dress in with a system that is nothing more than a “fancy washing machine.” I also use Wet Cleaning and have cleaned with it for more than a year without any issue.
Thomas
Greensleeves Garment Care
http://DistinctiveCleaners.com
Thomas, I appreciate your comment, but I studied several sources before making that post. I’m not sure the “little knowledge” comment was called for. I’m aware that the study that showed cancer in rats used high does of D5, but what about the cumulative effect of lower does in the environment?
I’m not totally 100% against GreenEarth, but I didn’t find them extremely forthcoming about possible dangers on their website. They make it sound like the greatest thing on earth and don’t bother mentioning the downsides. However, GreenEarth is more green than perc. I do admit that. I’m not a chemist or expert in this area, but I do think the reviews of this method are “mixed.” I stand by that comment. I want this to be a good green option since it’s being adopted so widely, and I will try to keep up with any new studies. And, to be more fair, I lightened up the language in the post just a tad, but I still feel it important to discuss the downsides of this method.
Here’s a quote from a Co-Op America article:
“You might also run into cleaners that use the GreenEarth method, which replaces perc with a silicone based solvent called siloxane or D-5, which is similar to the base ingredients in deodorant and shaving creams. D-5 degrades to sand, water, and carbon dioxide. It’s chemically inert, which means no chemicals mix with your clothes while they are being cleaned.
However, Dow Corning, D-5’s creator, did a study that revealed an increased risk of uterine cancer in female rats that were exposed to D-5, which has led the EPA to note that it may be a carcinogen. Also, manufacturing D-5 requires chlorine, which releases carcinogenic dioxin during its own manufacture.”
http://www.coopamerica.org/pubs/realmoney/articles/drycleaning.cfm
Feb 2007 Califorinia’s CARB has now recognized GreenEarth as an alternative to Perc reversing an
earlier position as a result of additional scientific study.
As one of the toughest regulatory agencies in the country, I believe you can trust their conclusions rather use articles from “Co-OP Americal” and “Real Money” to draw scientific support for your conclusions.
Visit: http://www.drycleaningstation.com for locations with the greenearth process or visit
http://www.greenearthcleaning.com and get additional information.
David,
I just wanted to point out that if you follow my “mixed conclusions” link you’ll see that the article I linked to does discuss California’s studies. I linked to that post before I made this post live.
Peggy,
I appreciate your need to report all aspects, but I went to the GreenEarth website, they have pages of documents publishing all sorts of disclosures. If you are using the web as your “reliable” source; and if you read through enough pages you can eventually tell that information is recycled. Many times these references are either old, (over 2 years) and some times bias, a competitor is being quoted as an “expert”. I am with David and Thomas on this one. Maybe your need for full disclosure – no process is perfect – keeps us from the big picture. Let’s keep going in the right direction – no harm.