Environmental Health Center

EnvironMinute Health Scripts

Do you know the smell of dry-cleaned clothes? That smell comes from the cleaning chemicals. Those chemicals are not good for you or the environment. Hear about a green way to clean on today's EnvironMinute. [:12]

Most dry cleaners use a chemical called perchlor-ethylene -- "perc" for short -- to clean your clothes, but the perc is a hazardous substance. So some businesses are experimenting with different kinds of dry wash. One method spins your clothes in jets of liquid carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide, CO2, is usually a harmless gas. You breathe it out with every breath. In the dry wash process, high pressure turns CO2 into a liquid. A carbon dioxide detergent swirls through your clothes to trap dirt in filters. The process still needs more testing, but it could eventually help clean up the air and the dry-cleaning business. [:36]

The EnvironMinute is produced in cooperation with the National Safety Council and made possible by the Teresa and H. John Heinz III Foundation. [:10]

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