Chapter 9: Solvents and hydrocarbons · Part 4: Chlorinated solvents
Tetrachloroethylene (perc)
- Poison schedule (Australia)
- Made from a hazardous chemical
- Contaminant risk
The worst fact: the WHO cancer agency rates it "probably carcinogenic to humans", and the US EPA found long-term exposure impairs vision, thinking and colour discrimination. The US has banned it from all consumer products: retailers must stop selling it after 8 March 2027, and dry cleaning must stop after 19 December 2034, though the EPA said in 2025 it is reconsidering the rule. In a US study, clothes brought home from the dry cleaner raised indoor levels over the next day or two, with up to 3 mg/m³ in the wardrobe.
Why brands use it: it's non-flammable, very stable and dissolves oils, which is why it dominated dry cleaning.
Take care if: you hang dry-cleaned clothes in bedrooms, or use spot removers indoors. Australia classes it as "Suspected of causing cancer". It's Schedule 5 (Caution) at 5% or less and Schedule 6 above that. In 2001, Australia's regulator found a consumer carpet stain remover with 12% and an aerosol electric-motor cleaner with 95 to 99%. Today we found perc only in workshop cleaners: CRC Lectra Clean's 2018 safety data sheet lists 50 to 80%, Schedule 6. We found no current household spot remover containing it.
Comes from: mostly by chlorinating propylene or by oxychlorinating 1,2-dichloroethane (made from ethylene). Australia classes 1,2-dichloroethane as "May cause cancer". That doesn't mean it's in the product, but it's not a great starting point for something you clean with.
Myth check: "Dry-cleaned clothes are solvent-free": no. Polyester, cotton and wool hold on to it, more with each cleaning, and airing clothes with the bag off didn't reduce what was released. Silk holds very little.
Contaminants: trichloroethylene (Australia: "Suspected of causing genetic defects; May cause cancer"), at under 50 mg/kg in EU supply. It's unlikely in a well-made product, but it's a factor you can't see on the label.
Fair to say: the human cancer evidence is "limited" (bladder). In 2001, most Australian dry-cleaning machines were closed types with refrigerated condensers, and US measurements near those machines were far lower than near old vented ones.
Correct as of November 2026. What the badges mean
Sources
- Australian Government. Poisons Standard October 2026 (SUSMP), F2026L01327: 2-butoxyethanol; diethylene glycol monobutyl ether; hydrocarbons, liquid; toluene; xylene; tetrachloroethylene; trichloroethylene; Appendix B.
- Safe Work Australia. Hazardous Chemical Information System (HCIS): classifications for each chemical, and for ethylene oxide, propylene oxide, epichlorohydrin, benzene, 1,3-butadiene-containing butane and 1,2-dichloroethane. Workplace exposure standards (amended November 2025) and workplace exposure limits (July 2025). Labelling of workplace hazardous chemicals code of practice (2015). Trichloroethylene health monitoring guide.
- NICNAS. Priority Existing Chemical Reports No. 6: 2-butoxyethanol in cleaning products (1996); No. 8: trichloroethylene (2000); No. 15: tetrachloroethylene (2001). IMAP Tier II assessments: diethylene glycol monobutyl ether (2013); toluene (2017); xylenes (2019).
- US EPA. Trichloroethylene; regulation under TSCA, 89 FR 102568 (2024), and later notices (2025–2026); Perchloroethylene; regulation under TSCA, 89 FR 103560 (2024), and 91 FR 47145 (2026); 40 CFR 751.305 and 751.605; Carbon tetrachloride rule (2024); IRIS: ethylene glycol monobutyl ether (2010); Safer Choice Ingredient List.
- IARC. Monographs vol. 88 (2-butoxyethanol), vol. 106 (trichloroethylene, tetrachloroethylene); Supplement 7 (mineral oils).
- HSDB (US National Library of Medicine), via PubChem: manufacturing, use and impurity data.
- Sherlach KS et al. Quantification of perchloroethylene residues in dry-cleaned fabrics. Environ Toxicol Chem 2011;30:2481-2487.
The full source list is at the end of Chapter 9.