National Clothesline

By Bill Bogus

Accusers and fakers are frustrated in trying to change the minds of perc-using drycleaners. They will exaggerate, make false statements and fake sincerity in order to get drycleaner’s attention, but drycleaners are not listening because Accusers and Fakers don’t know, and don’t want to know, the truth about perc.

The same goes for the environmentalists and regulators who are busy making rules that will ban perchloroethylene. They say that perc is poisoning too many people and causing many of them to die from cancer. They don’t need evidence or proof because they know that perc is carcinogenic and that’s what’s doing it.

But what about natural substances, such as foods that we consume, that contain carcinogens? The majority of carcinogenic substances are in the food chain and not in chemicals. People may eventually die from eating, but they will die quicker from starvation.

Mother Nature produces more natural poisons than man-made chemicals. Man-made chemicals save more lives.

For instance, modern medicine (chemicals) takes over what natural substances and our immune system can’t do.

For example, chemotherapy (chemicals) fights cancer without poisoning the patient. Medical research has produced miracles by using chemicals. Our standard of living has been improved by the use of chemicals.

We also know at what point chemicals can become hazardous and we know how to control and avoid dangerous chemicals. This information is made available by the chemical manufacturers.

Dow Chemical has been, and still is, the front runner on safety information for all perc users. During the hazardous do-it-yourself coin-op drycleaning days, when operators were investors with no knowledge of drycleaning, the users of the service had no knowledge of the solvent in the cleaning process.

Coin-op drycleaning was a set-up for disaster. Dow Chemical prevented such from happening by warning solvent distributors and their salesmen that disaster was in the making. Dow made sure that safety data was being provided to all the coin-op drycleaners.

If today’s technology and medical research were guided by regulations only, we would still be in caves rubbing two sticks together in order to start a fire. Thanks to modern technology, dry-to-dry cleaning systems with perc is as safe as you can get. Perc is locked into the cleaning system. The way perc is being used, it is not a health problem for the employees nor detrimental to the environment or the community.

During the drying cycle, solvent vapors are not blown out into the atmosphere. The vapors are liquefied and contained in the system.

The International Fabricare Institute reports perc emissions are much less than the South Coast Air Quality Management District is reporting. Why are they doing that? They are doing it to keep crazy environmentalists busy so that SCAQMD has a purpose for existence.

Southern California wants a full ban on perc. There is no logical reason for this ban. To ban perc is nothing more than boycotting.

This flagrant attitude is much more than the straw that broke the camel’s back. It’s breaking up small drycleaning businesses that provide vital services for the community. Small businesses provide stability to the economy. They don’t cause massive unemployment. Small drycleaners don’t believe in child labor. They don’t hide money in Swiss banks in order not to pay taxes. Small drycleaners bank locally and they pay taxes, and, importantly, they purchase necessities locally.

Are natural chemicals safer than synthetic chemicals? The answer is no — both can be dangerous under certain conditions. We consume natural chemicals in foods on a daily basis in order to stay alive and healthy. We need synthetic chemicals to stay alive longer and healthier. And both types of chemicals may be carcinogenic. No matter what we do or how we do it, carcinogens can not be avoided.

Janet Hickman, a chemist for Dow Chemical, is a steward for perchloroethylene (perc). And for that responsibility she knows who uses it and why. She also knows why drycleaners are using it. She is also an information-hungry person. She asks a lot of questions. She holds a degree, chemistry and has high marks in it. This question was often asked: “Is there really a better living through chemistry?” And quickly, without doubt, she answered, “yes.”

Drycleaners are troubled with this question: Do regulators work for the government or do they assume the responsibility of being the government with dictatorial privileges?

No matter that the safety regulations were met with unprecedented control, the regulators were not satisfied. Their intention is to squeeze perc users into oblivion.

Bernard Baruch (1870-1965), an economic advisor to three U.S. presidents: Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman, at the age of 93 presented his papers to Princeton University, May 11, 1964.

He wrote: “The role of government and its relationship to the individual has changed so radically that today the government is involved in almost every aspect of our lives. We must make certain that government will belong to the people, not the people to the government, and provide for the future better than the past.”

Time has come for regulators to be more informed by medical research and technology rather than being influenced by Accusers and Fakers. Regulators should be more on the positive side in making decisions rather than exploring connotative possibilities such as “possibly” and “probably.” “Risk-free” cannot be factored in decision making for obvious reasons. “Risk-free” is an impossibility.

Good news from the Washington Post (but horrifying for Greenpeace): EPA Reports Decline in Pollution. More than 23,000 factories, refineries and chemical manufacturers were surveyed for the study. The drycleaning industry was not included.